Encircling and Encompassing — Transcending Nature
There are those who have the custom of circling the groom seven times under the chuppah, prior to the kiddushin.1
The significance of this custom according to Kabbalah and Chassidus is as follows:
There are two G‑dly levels: 2
a) Sovev kol almin — an extremely lofty degree of G‑dliness that is infinitely beyond the world; it does not vest itself within the world in an internal manner, rather it encompasses and encircles it from above.
b) Memale kol almin — a lower degree of G‑dliness that permeates and vests itself in (“fills”) the world and provides it with life.
During a Jewish wedding, the loftier level of sovev kol almin, exemplified by the characteristic of encircling, is drawn down.3 This level of G‑dliness is alluded to by — and shows the connection to — the circuits under the chuppah.4
Seven Circles
As previously stated, the custom is to circle the groom seven times. There is also a special significance to the fact that there are specifically seven circuits that are made:
Our Rabbis explain5 that the number seven represents the completed state of the world, the perfection of nature, [which also finds expression in the fact that the days of the year are divided into weeks consisting of seven days; so, too, Jewish festivals (the Shalosh Regalim) are of seven-day duration (Sukkos, Pesach, and Shavuos with its “Seven Completion Days” — Shivas Yemei Tashlumin), etc.]
Since a chuppah elicits the Divine level of G‑dliness that transcends and encompasses the world, seven circuits — symbolic of the “seven [encompassing] heavens” — are made, indicating that the spiritual energy concealed in the chuppah is loftier than the world: it encircles and encompasses the most complete worldly state; i.e., it encircles and transcends even the consummate worldly level of “seven.”