Everyone, in his own life, has his own hakafos—something that he encircles, something that’s most important to him. The question is only: What is your center? Some people have made their לתורה עתים קביעת their center, and they make hakafos all day around the Torah; everything surrounds that set time for learning. All his other affairs play second fiddle to his shiur. It’s like a mother whose entire life is her child... she can’t go very far from the child, and her whole life surrounds the child and his welfare.
Dancing Around the Purpose
The Ribbono shel Olam wants us to do actions to encircle the mizbei’ach—to illustrate how sacrificing for Hashem is the center of our lives. Even a person who must go out and make a living... everything should still surround the Torah. The purpose of doing these actions is because it’s not enough that our minds rule our hearts: action has the power to change a person from the outside in—to sear the belief into his heart that all his decisions in parnassah and in other areas all surround the ultimate purpose of doing ratzon Hashem.
Keeping Our Focus on the Center
But it is not enough to simply dance around the Torah and with the Torah—for if our ultimate destination is not clear...it isn’t considered dancing around the Torah. For example, if a person will narrow his focus as he is dancing, and not even see the Torah in the middle... he isn’t dancing with the Torah. If a person is in a large shul, with many people in the circle, and he doesn’t see the Torah...he isn’t necessarily focused on the Torah in the center. A person cannot focus only on what he is doing; he must also focus on why he is doing it. To contemplate what it means to encircle the Torah.
One must understand that it isn’t enough to say, “I have my hour that I learn every day.” But rather, he must say, “What is my decision-making process in life? How do I decide what is important and what is insignificant?” When a person contemplates this, it helps him to live a real and clear life.
