Hakafos
L'CHAIM BEFORE HAKAFOS
We are about to begin Hakafos, and although we should be especially careful when holding the Sefer Torah, it is fitting for everyone to say L'chaim – a big L'chaim!8
EVEN INFANTS COME TO HAKAFOS
Concluding the entire Torah is an occasion for the utmost joy that encompasses and unites all Jews – men, women and infants; it is customary to bring even infants to Hakafos, similar to the reading of the Ten Commandments on Shavuos.9
SINGING STREETS
It is customary for the joy of Simchas Torah to surpass even that of Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres – to the extent that we dance in the street ‘until the street itself dances!' This should be done even in a city with a non-Jewish majority and certainly in a neighborhood or city with a Jewish majority.10
ENTHUSIASTICALLY
It is unnecessary to mention that we should not feel that we are being coerced to dance – like one who has no choice, and dances softly and deliberately, with pigeon-steps and the like. Rather, we should want to rejoice and dance full heartedly.11
ATAH HAREISAH THREE TIMES
It is the Chabad custom to call out the verses beginning, 'Atah Hareisah LaDa'as Hashem Hu HoElokim' three times before Hakafos. This is done at all three occasions12 in which Hakafos are held according to Chabad custom (outside of the Land of Israel) – the night of Shemini Atzeres, the night of Simchas Torah and the day of Simchas Torah.13
AV HARACHAMIM
After reciting the verses of Atah Hareisah, we conclude with the verse, Av HaRachamim Heitivah; we should recite this passage quickly and quietly in the manner of a prayer (and not in the loud, festive manner in which we recite the verses of Atah Hareisah, which are decisive declarations14), in order to reach the verse U'faratzta as soon as possible – which we then declare with Shturem (fanfare).15
U’FARATZTA
In recent years, it has become the Chabad custom to recite the verse of U'faratztah three times16 at the end of the Atah Hareisah verses:17
וְהָי' זַרְעַךְ כַּעַפַר הָאָרֶץ וּפָרַצְתָ יָמָה וְקֵדְמָה וְצָפוֹנָה וְנֶגְבָּה וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כָּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאַדָמָה וּבְזַרְעֶךָ (בראשית כח).
"And your seed shall be as [numerous as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south; and in you and in your progeny shall all the families of the earth be blessed." (Bereishis 28:14)
EXTRA VERSE FOR HAKHEL
During Hakhel years, the Rebbe added the following passage in addition to the verse ‘U’faratztah':18
הִנְנִי מֵבִיא אוֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ צָפוֹן וְקִבְצְתִים מֵיַרְכְתֵי-אָרֶץ בָּם עִוֵר וּפְסֵח הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת יַחְדָוּ קָהָל גָדוֹל יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָה (ירמי' לא)
"Behold, I will bring them from the north-country and gather them from the ends of the earth; and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who labors with child together; a great company shall return there." (Yirmiyah 31:7)
SEVEN HALF CIRCUITS
In the Hakafos of the day of Simchas Torah, we circle the Bimah only three and a half times, not seven times as we do on the night of Simchas Torah and Shemini Atzeres.19
DANCE WITH KESSER
When we dance with the Sefer Torah we leave its gold or silver crown on.20
770 IS EVERYONE'S HOME
It was once customary to go from house to house on Simchas Torah saying L'chaim, having a bite to eat, singing a happy melody and dancing.21
Although this custom does not appear to be in practice today, essentially it does continue, albeit in a different manner: Instead of going from house to house, we all come to one place, a holy place - the house of prayer and house of study of the Rebbe, my father-in-law, the Leader of our Generation.22
ADDITIONAL HAKAFOS IN ISRAEL
[In Israel, Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah are celebrated on the same day; in the Diaspora, they span two days.] It is the custom of Chabad Chassidim in Israel, where there is no second day of Yom Tov, to nevertheless hold additional Hakafos after Yom Tov [i.e., when Jews in the Diaspora are celebrating Simchas Torah]; and their joy at these Hakafos should even exceed that of their Yom Tov Hakafos – in accordance with the custom [in the Diaspora] that the joy of Simchas Torah by far exceeds even that of Shemini Atzeres.23
