by Rabbi Yossi Rubin, from Chabad of Clifton Park, which is dedicating the American Jewish Heritage Torah on Sunday, May 18th, 2014
This year marks 360 years from 1654 when the first small group of Jews arrived at New Amsterdam (now NY) including a man named Asser Levy. Asser is especially significant because he maintained and fought for his Jewish identity in the New World, because he stayed on even when most of the rest went back to Amsterdam, and he even lived in Albany (then known as Fort Orange) for a time. In NYC he ran a butcher shop outside of what was then the city limits, on the other side of Wall Street. Recently I was in NY to visit with my young nephew at a hospital there (may he have a speedy recovery: Menachem Mendel ben Menucha Rochel) and stumbled upon Asser Levy Park, and also a Asher Levy Middle School in downtown Manhattan.
360 is also a significant number and image. In addition to being 20x Chai, 360 represents a full circle. And if you divide the circle by 6, as in the 6 days of the week, you have 6 “pizza slices” of 60 all converging at the center. Think of the center, that pivot where all the 6 days meet as Shabbos. Shabbos is not only the end of one week or the beginning of another, it is the center-point, the axis or hub of the whole week, and each and every day of the week is directly linked to and benefits from Shabbos.