On Sukkos we see that our connection to Hashem is not dependent on Yom Kippur; our relationship with Him is not just through Divine judgment, but also through love and attachment.
The lulav corresponds to the spine, the esrog to the heart, the hadasim to the eyes and the aravos to the lips. These are the parts of the body that connect a person to the outside world.
Our eyes see the world. Thus, hadas represents acquisition of knowledge and wisdom by means of sight. When a person sees something and understands its nature, he connects to the wisdom that is inherent in it. The three hadasim symbolize the three Avos. The hadasim bring us to “see” the deeds of the Avos and connect to them. This is a proper seeing, this is looking straight ahead and not veering aside to foreign and unbecoming sights. The avodah it represents is to place our gaze on Hakadosh Baruch Hu and not get distracted by other things.
Aravah corresponds to the lips, which are a part of the body that enables connection between one person’s spirit and another’s. פיהו מנשיקות ישקני – “May He kiss me with the kisses of His mouth” (Shir Hashirim 1:2). This verse expresses the connection of one spirit to another.
We connect to Hashem and to Torah in this way. Mouth to mouth, with total dedication of spirit. When a person puts his whole spirit into avodas Hashem, he receives a new spirit from the Source of spirits: “May He kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.”
The lips represent the power of tefilah. When a person feels a need for something, he davens. Someone who has at least a little bit of emunah expresses his feelings through prayer. This is such a natural response that it doesn’t take a great effort to stand before the King and pray to Him. (Perhaps this is why the aravos have no taste or scent.)
A person’s attachment to Hashem in tefilah creates an absolute connection of spirit to spirit. This is aravah. And then comes Hoshana Rabbah, when we take aravos on their own, when we make an absolute acquisition on tefilah. Sukkos causes the power of tefilah, which we experienced on the Yamim Nora’im, to stay with us all year long, even on the mundane days of the coming year.
Lulav corresponds to the backbone. We live in a physical world that calls for actions performed by the limbs of our body. The backbone contains the spinal cord which connects our limbs to the brain and enables them to function. Thus, lulav is the main part of the mitzvah, because we live and function mainly in the physical world.
However, actions performed without the heart are lifeless, so we join the esrog to the lulav. The beauty and perfection of our physical actions is by putting our heart (the esrog) into them, thus giving our heart to Hashem. This connects the inner desire of the heart to the physical limbs of the body.
The Arba Minim thus represent the total connection of a person to avodas Hashem. The eyes and seeing, the lips and praying, the backbone and physical actions, the heart and feelings. Unifying them all connects a person to avodas Hashem in the most perfect way.
