Kallah circling 7 times

why does the kallah go around the chattan 7 times under the chuppah? and does it matter if they circle clockwise or counter-clockwise? Thank you

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

Yes, at most Ashkenazi weddings it is customary for the bride to circle the groom seven times.

There are a number of reasons why this is done.

1. It symbolizes that six days of creation and the one day of rest: a total of seven. Weddings, marriages, a Jewish home are all said to represent both hard work, but yet the pleasure of Shabbat.

2. It recalls the battle of Jericho when the Jewish people circled the city seven times until the walls came tumbling down. The circling at a wedding is said to bring down any “walls” or “barriers” that might impeded the marriage.

3. The word “bride” is mentioned seven time in the Shir Hashirim

4. There are seven heavens. Corresponding to this, we are told that in the world to come God will give the righteous “seven wedding canopies.”

5. It corresponds to the seven windings of the tefillin of the arm. Just like tefillin bind a man to G-d, so too, marriage binds husband and wife.

There is also a lesser-known custom for the bride to circle the groom three times. According to this approach, the three times correspond to the three times the Torah says “When a man takes a wife,” the three times G‑d tells us (through the prophet Hosea,) “And I will betroth you to Me,” and the three obligations a man has to his wife, to give her a livelihood, clothing, and intimacy.”

There are other reason for both the seven and three time custom, as well. The circuits are not done in many Sefardic communities.

The custom is for the circling to be counter-clockwise, namely, moving to the right. This is meant to correspond to the Kohanim in the Beit Hamikdash who would perform the service in a counter-clockwise routine. See Rambam, Hilchot Beit Habechira 7:3 and Mishna Berura 141:24 for more on this.