Hakafot

Hakafot (Hebrew: הַקָּפוֹת, lit. 'processions'; sg. hakafah, הַקָּפָה) are joyful processions in Judaism in which congregants walk circles around the synagogue's bimah (בִּימָה, 'pulpit' or 'platform'), especially on Simchat Torah—while dancing with the synagogue's Torah scrolls—and during Shacharit during Sukkot—while waving the four species. Performing hakafot is a minhag (מִהְהָג, 'tradition') in Judaism, not an obligation mandated by Halakha (Jewish law) or a mitzvah (מִצְוָה, 'commandments') given in the Tanakh itself. Conservative rabbi Reuven Hammer, in Or Hadash, his commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals first published in 2003, hakafot—at least as they are recognized in contemporary Judaism—originated in Safed in the sixteenth century.

Hakafot symbolize communal harmony and the joy of learning Torah. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, in a September 27, 2021, article published in the Jewish Journal, wrote: "We dance our Torahs in an act of gratitude, reaffirmation, and because we know in our bones that it is," referencing Proverbs 3:18, "'a tree of life to those who cling to it'." An account recorded in Joshua 6:3–20 describes the Israelites, led by Joshua, circumambulating the city of Jericho—a strategic walled city in ancient Canaan—once daily for six days. Each day, the priests (כֹּהנים, kōhănīm) carried the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest representing God's presence, as they led the procession around the city walls. On the seventh day, the Israelites marched around Jericho seven times. During the final procession, the priests blew their shofars (ram's horns), and the people shouted in unison. Miraculously, the walls of Jericho collapsed, allowing the Israelite soldiers to breach the city. During the era of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, when Jewish officials sought to expand the Temple Mount, they would first surround the proposed expansion area with temporary boundaries, then gradually extend the land outward to enlarge the sacred space, ensuring proper religious and political procedures were observed.