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Author Archives: mradwin

Yerushalmi Yomi

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Yerushalmi Yomi is a daily learning program for the Jerusalem Talmud. The current Yerushalmi Yomi cycle began recently, on 20 Cheshvan 5783 / 14 November 2022.

Daf Yomi Yerushalmi began on Tu BiShvat 5740 (Sat, 2 February 1980) and follows a 4¼ year cycle using page numbers according to the Vilna Edition. Unlike the Daf Yomi Bavli, this Yerushalmi cycle skips both Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av. In this version, tractate Berakhot has 68 pages so it takes 68 days to read.

There’s an alternate page numbering scheme provided by the Schottenstein Edition, and this cycle takes 5¾ years to complete. Yom Kippur and Tish’a B’Av are not skipped in this alternate cycle. This alternate cycle also began on 20 Cheshvan 5783 / 14 November 2022. In this version, tractate Berakhot has 94 pages so it takes 94 days to read.

You will find both Vilna and Schottenstein calendar feeds on our calendar downloads page.

Yahrzeit + Anniversary calendar annual email reminders

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Follow these instructions to create a personal yahrzeit, Hebrew birthday, or Hebrew anniversary calendar and then receive annual email reminders.

1. Open a web browser on your computer and navigate to https://www.hebcal.com/yahrzeit 

2. Fill out the form with names and dates click the Create Calendar button

3. Click the Email reminders button

4. In the dialog box that pops up, enter your email address and click the Subscribe button

5. A confirmation message has been sent to your email address.

6. Open your email program and look for a message from Hebcal with subject line Activate your Yahrzeit reminders or Activate your Hebrew Anniversary reminders. Click the link within that message to confirm your subscription.

7. In your web browser, click the blue Confirm button to activate your annual reminder subscription.

8. Congratulations! Your annual email reminders are now active. You may view the calendar again or make further changes to the calendar.

CSV Import for Yahrzeit + Anniversary calendar

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We’re pleased to announce support for Comma Separated Values (CSV) file import in the Hebcal Yahrzeit + Anniversary calendar. You can now create a personal list of Yahrzeit (memorial) and Yizkor dates, Hebrew Birthdays and Anniversaries for 20+ years by importing a CSV file.

The file must be formatted carefully for the import to work correctly.

The CSV file may contain 1-4 columns. Column names and types are listed below. A header row is optional.

  1. Date: mm/dd/yyyy. Gregorian date of death (or birth), USA date format with 4-digit year.
  2. Name: If blank, defaults to Person1, Person2, …
  3. After sunset: true or TRUE for after sunset; false, FALSE, or (blank) for before sunset. If blank, defaults to false.
  4. Type: Yahrzeit, Birthday, or Anniversary. If blank, defaults to Yahrzeit.

Example file: yahrzeit-example.csv

To try it out,

  1. Create a new yahrzeit calendar
  2. Click on the Import tab
  3. Choose a CSV file to upload from your device
  4. Click the blue Import button
  5. Click on the Form tab to review the imported data
  6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Create Calendar button

Once you have created your personal yahrzeit calendar, you’ll be able to subscribe to free annual email reminders & calendar downloads.

Tishrei 5783 updates

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We’ve released a few minor improvements to the Hebcal website during the past month.

Holidays

Birkat HaChama is a rare Jewish blessing recited once every 28 years thanking G-d for creating the sun. The holiday will occur next on Wednesday, 8 April 2037.

Purim Meshulash, or three-fold Purim, is a rare calendric occurrence that affects how Purim is observed in Jerusalem. When Shushan Purim (Adar 15) falls on the Sabbath, the holiday is celebrated over a period of three days.

Shushan Purim Katan is a minor Purim celebration during Adar I on leap years observed in Jerusalem and walled cities.

Modern Israeli holidays

Custom calendars that include both “Modern Holidays” and “Israel holiday schedule” options now include Family Day / יוֹם הַמִשׁפָּחָה and four Israeli national holidays recognized by the Knesset:

  • Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day / יוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן ליצחק רבין is observed on the 12th of Cheshvan, and commemorates the life of Zionist leader and Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Yitzhak Rabin
  • Ben-Gurion Day / יום בן־גוריון is observed on the 6th of Kislev, and commemorates the life and vision of Zionist leader, and Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
  • Herzl Day / יוֹם הרצל is observed on the 10th of Iyar, and commemorates the life and vision of Zionist leader Theodor Herzl
  • Jabotinsky Day / יוֹם ז׳בוטינסקי is observed on the 29th of Tammuz, and commemorates the life and vision of Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky

Translations

Added Ukrainian translations of holiday names, courtesy Lyubov Kuzmyn

Daf Yomi in Hebrew is now displayed with the page number in gematriya (e.g. כתובות דף פ״ג) instead of Arabic numerals (e.g. כתובות 83)

Legacy CSV export of non-English calendar files now open more reliably in Microsoft Excel on Windows 10 and Windows 11 due to addition of a UTF-8 Byte Order Mark at the beginning of the file.

Torah Reading

Special Haftarah for Shabbat Shuvah differs when read w/Vayeilech vs. Ha’Azinu.

  • The Haftarah for Shabbat Shuva (with Vayeilech) is Hosea 14:2-10; Micah 7:18-20
  • The Haftarah for Shabbat Shuva (with Ha’Azinu) differs for Ashkenazim (Hosea 14:2-10; Joel 2:15-27) and Sephardim (Hosea 14:2-10; Micah 7:18-20)

Developer APIs

Leyning (Torah Reading) API – full kriyah leyning on Shabbat and holidays, Triennial (optionally) for Shabbat, and weekday readings on Mondays & Thursdays.

Optional &sec=1 parameter for Zmanim API to enable exact seconds.

Shana Tova & G’mar Chatima Tova!

We wish you a good inscription in the Book of Life.

Giving appropriate credit to Hebcal

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Most Hebcal content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (sometimes referred to as “CC BY 4.0”). If you use Hebcal.com content or APIs, continue reading to understand what privileges this license grants and how you can give appropriate credit to Hebcal.

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The CC BY 4.0 license is designed to encourage use and reuse of content. You can remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. You need not ask for permission, notify us about the usage, or send us money. This license gives you permission to freely to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format as long as you give appropriate credit to Hebcal.com.

Creative Commons licenses have a flexible attribution requirement, so there is not necessarily one correct way to provide attribution. The proper method for giving credit will depend on the medium and means you are using, and may be implemented in any reasonable manner.

On a website, you might include a short piece of text with a link back to Hebcal.com, e.g.:

Powered by Hebcal Shabbat Times

Or you might include the following at the bottom of a printed page or refrigerator magnet:

Jewish holidays and candle-lighting times are provided by Hebcal.com with a CC BY 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons publishes best practices for attribution which includes some good (and not so good) examples of attribution.