HOLY REVOLUTIONS

There are several occasions throughout the Jewish year and certain lifecycle events that are marked by the performance of Hakkafot, circuits or revolutions around a particular point. In most instances, seven circuits are made but at other times, a single circuit. Perhaps the first mention of this practice is in the book of Joshua (6:1-5): “Jericho was completely sealed before the Children of Israel; no one left and no one entered. Hashem said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered into your hand Jericho and its king, the mighty warriors. You shall go around the city, all the men of war, encircling the city one time; thus shall you do for a period of six days. And seven Cohanim shall carry seven ram – shofars before the ark; on the seventh day you shall go around the city seven times, and the Cohanim shall blow with the shofars. It shall be that upon an extended blast with the ram’s horn – when you hear the sound of the shofar – all the people shall cry out with a great cry, and the wall of the city will drop down in its place, and the people shall advance, each man straight ahead.” Radak  writes that we should not question the reasons of the Creator for the seven circuits, the seven Cohanim and the seven shofar horns for they are all deep mysteries. Nevertheless, he writes, “The secret of the number seven is known to those who understand wisdom…and the number seven is always the choicest of numbers when it comes to the days of the week (Shabbat), the months (Tishrei, which contains Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot is the seventh month from Nissan when the exodus took place) and the years (the Sabbatical year takes place every seven years.)

The Maharal often writes that seven, or its multiples, is the number that represents the perfection of the physical world. Thus the world was created in seven days and there were originally seventy nations, descendants of Noah, who spoke seventy languages. Perhaps the choice of seven circuits indicates  perfection or completion of the task at hand, whatever it may be.

The Hakkafot of Sukkot, known as hoshanot, follow an identical pattern to those performed at Jericho. The Talmud (Sukkah 45a) explains that a very long willow branch was placed on the altar in the Temple during Sukkot and that “every day [those present in the Temple] would walk around the altar once while chanting, “Please Hashem save us now! (Anah Hashem hoshia nah) Please Hashem grant success now!” On the seventh day of Sukkot they walked around the altar seven times.” The prayers that were recited during these circuits became known as hoshanot, after their opening words, “Please Hashem save us now”. Since on the seventh day many circuits were made and many prayers were recited, the day became known as Hoshana Rabbah, the “great Hoshana”. In the absence of the Temple, we walk around the bimeh, lulav and etrog in hand, once every day of Sukkot, while reciting the hoshanot prayers, and seven times on Hoshana Rabbah.

On Simchat Torah, a similar pattern to Hoshana Rabbah is followed in the evening and morning, except that instead of encircling the bimeh with lulav and etrog, we carry Torah scrolls while singing joyous songs and praises to G-d for the magnificent gift of His eternal Law. These circuits are known simply as Hakkafot, revolutions.

There is also a widespread custom, certainly amongst Ashkenazi Jews, for a bride to encircle her groom seven times under the chuppah. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (Made In Heaven, pages 158-9) notes that it was originally only three circuits and suggests that this custom is based on the verse in Jeremiah (31:21), “G-d has created a new thing on earth: a woman shall go around a man.” The Talmud (Yevamot 62b) derives an important lesson from this verse, namely, “whoever lives without a wife, lives without a wall.” The commentaries (Maharsha on the Talmud) state that a wife is like a wall for her husband, protecting him from external temptation. The bride marches around the groom, indicating that in their married life, she will protect him from untoward desires. He writes that the prevalent custom today of making seven circuits is of Kabbalistic origin and, “on the simplest level, the circuits represent the seven revolutions that the earth made during the seven days of creation. The earth is represented by the woman. Since every marriage is a reenactment of the creative process, she walks around the groom to indicate that these seven cycles are now being repeated.”

There are also sombre occasions upon which Hakkafot are performed. A new cemetery is consecrated by means of a single revolution. When a new plot of ground has been selected, respected members of the community together with representatives of the Chevra Kadisha will make a single revolution around its perimeter to consecrate it for use as a Jewish burial ground. In certain communities, those present at a funeral walk around the body seven times while reciting appropriate verses. This is not a widespread custom but it is very ancient and has deep significance on a mystical level (See Gesher HaChaim, chapter 15).

The significance of the circular procession may be explained by referring to a comment by Rabbeinu Bechayei regarding the Menorah in the Temple. The Menorah possessed several decorative adornments in the form of embossed flowers, goblets and orbs (Shmot 25:31-40). Rabbeinu Bachayei notes that the three ornaments correspond to the three planes of existence. The flower corresponds to this physical world, the lowest of all the planes, where one can find growth in the form of plants, flowers and other vegetation. The goblet, which is an item with a receptacle that can be used to receive liquids from a bottle and transfer those to the mouth of the drinker, corresponds to the middle world, the world of the “Heavenly spheres” (probably a reference to the planets, moons and stars). This intermediary plane receives the spiritual abundance and blessing from the highest world and transfers it downwards to the lowest plane. The orb corresponds to the highest plane, the ‘world of the angels’, who bask in the light of G-d and experience indescribable spiritual bliss. To represent this, a circular object is used for it has no beginning point and no end but continues eternally, in the same way that their delight is endless and beyond time. The Sages refer to this eternal bliss in an unusual passage in the Talmud (Taanit 31a): “In the future Hashem will set up a great dance for the righteous in the Garden of Eden. He will sit amongst them and each one will point with his finger [at his Creator] as it is written (Isaiah 25:9), “And they will say on that day, ‘Behold, this is our G-d; we hoped to Him that He would save us; this is Hashem to whom we hoped, let us exalt and be glad in His salvation.’” Rabbeinu Bachayei explains that the Sages employed the symbolism of a dance for a dance is usually done in a circular formation with no beginning and no end and in this way, it mirrors the bliss that the righteous will experience in the World To Come. Seemingly, this is the source for the tradition that Jewish dancing is always done in a circle and may very well be the source for the circular Hakkafot.

Whatever the reason for these’ holy revolutions’, they have become a basic part of a Jew’s service to his Creator.

Lee, Chani Merryl and Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom Chag Sameach! Rabbi Liebenberg

Link to YouTube message for Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah:

https://youtu.be/qijI3ACH5Zo?si=OjgarDW7JBZ6UEtD