Forum for Hebcal.com - Free Jewish holiday calendars, Hebrew date converters and Shabbat times
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Started

5783 candle lighting at a glance having problems.

Esther Rachael 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 4

Love the hebcal candle lighting at a glance calendar. Use it every year. But this year it is having trouble holding onto my ZIP code.  Worse, it is only showing 5782. The arrows at the bottom are not changing the year, either forward nor backward. Is it me, or are others also having this problem? What can we do? Need the calendar!

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Answered

When should Bedikat Chametz be done in London in 2023?

Jonathan Rose 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 2
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Fixed

Breaking change in REST API (missing year in 'hebrew' field)

JustAUser 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 4

About a year ago I started using the hebcal.com/hebcal REST API, and on the hebrew field I got the day, the month, and the year. I.e. ה' באייר תש"ח.

Today I see that on the hebrew field I get only the day and the month, without the year, like ה' באייר.

(Only on very special days I get the year, like in Rosh Hashana א' בתשרי תשע"ד.)

This is a breaking change, isn't it?

Now nowhere on the response I get the hebrew year directly.

Example of API call params:

const params = new URLSearchParams({
        year: '' + year,
        month: '' + month,
        v: '1',
        cfg: 'json',
        maj: 'on', /* major holidays */
        min: 'on', /* minor holidays */
        mod: 'on',
        mf: 'on',
        d: 'on',
        i: 'on',
        lg: 'he', /* language */
    })
    const req = await fetch(
        `https://www.hebcal.com/hebcal?${params.toString()}`
    )
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Declined

task added to Hebcal not showing on Google calendar (android)

Arthur Rosenthol 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 3
Answer
Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago

Hi, thanks for your message.

Hebcal.com (pronounced HEEB-kal, as in Hebrew calendar) is a free Jewish calendar and holiday web site.

The HebCal & Widget app on the Google Play store is developed by an organization called BotenSoft which is not affiliated with Hebcal.com. Although they use the same name, we have no relationship with them and cannot offer support for their app.

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Completed

Today's date

Menasche 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 1

Firstly, thank you for adding the month number to the Gregorian name of the month (in this digital age, we're more used to numbers...).

Please add a Button enabling browsers to generate the "today's date", without having to enter it manually (I assume it's a matter of 'scraping it off your ISP's timestamp data?).

Thank you and have a nice day, today and every day!

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Not a bug

Adding to Google Calendar not importing all events

aron messin 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 2

I created a calendar with just the Hebrew dates and imported them into Google Calendar, here's what I got:

Image 168

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Fixed

At least twice this year, this site showed incorrect Torah/Haftorah information for a particular date

Bram Weiser 2 years ago updated 2 years ago 5

Hello,

Today, July 23, 2022, Parshat Pinchas was read.  However, when one visits its page in Hebcal.com (https://www.hebcal.com/sedrot/pinchas), then, presuming a Shul is reading the "Full Kriyah" as our Shul does, one won't learn that the Haftorah isn't I Kings 18:46-19:21, but is, instead, Jeremiah 1:1-2:3 because 17 Tammuz already passed this year.

This incorrect information led to our Shul working with an incorrect Haftorah citation this morning and proved quite embarrassing to experience.  What's worse, it led to Deaf congregants who rely on our Shul's sign-language interpreters to be presented with a Haftorah portion that we didn't actually read because those interpreters were given what your site said should be the portions being read...except not all of them were.

What's worse is that this isn't the first time when this kind of error appeared this year in Hebcal.com.

On April 2nd, Tazria was the Parsha being read.  This is confirmed when one visits https://www.hebcal.com/sedrot/tazria.  However, what's shown there is NOT how the Torah and Haftorah portions were actually broken down on that date...

One COULD have somehow found their way to https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/rosh-chodesh-nisan-2022 and learned of a Maftir from a second Sefer Torah, but even THAT was wrong for that date.

One SHOULD have actually(!) visited https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/shabbat-hachodesh-2022, instead, to learn of the use of a third(!) Sefer Torah.  However, NONE of these pages referred to a need to see what any of the others said, and ALL of them said that what was shown there would be what's read on April 2, 2022 (how can that possibly be?)

So, if a visitor to Hebcal.com saw any one (1) of those incorrect pages, they wouldn't have any way to learn from the site that, indeed, something ELSE was going to be read on that specific date, instead, which means they'd be working with wrong information, and why should that be allowed to happen...or continue?

Hebcal.com needs to be thoroughly vetted so that its information is accurate for EVERY date where information is being provided, and so that EVERY page with information about a date is (a) correct, and/or (b) has a special note, and live link, to a different page if indeed the information that the page shows doesn't apply on a particular date when a particular condition (like having 17 Tammuz already have taken place) is true.

I look forward to learning soon why Hebcal.com allowed this incorrect information to appear on its site...twice so far by my count within the past few months, and maybe more for all I know...and to how and when it will be corrected.

Thank you very much,

Bram Weiser, MS, CT
Coordinator of ASL-interpreted Services & Events

Town & Village Synagogue, New York City

Answer
Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago

Thanks for your note. First of all, we’d like to apologize for any confusion or trouble. It sounds like there was more than a reasonable amount of embarrassment, and I’m really, very sorry about that. Hebcal is a labor of love for me, and I do it hoping to make things easier and more accessible for congregations and the leyning coordinators who serve them.

I see the problem you ran into, and I have to say, I’d be happy for your help in thinking through how I could better present the information. I’m more of a software guy who likes the data, which is all there, but the design of how to help people find what they want is really challenging, since people come to Hebcal for so many different reasons.

For each Parsha, there is a generic “parsha” page. This page has the typical breakdowns, but doesn’t reflect anything that might be going on liturgically in a given year. People typically navigate to this page when they’re interested in the Torah portion itself, and also when they want to learn which haftarah is *typically* paired with the parsha. This is valuable information that belongs somewhere on the site.

But as you noticed, if you click on the links from the calendar (one you generate or otherwise), you get a different page which lets you see anything more specific going on on that date. You can click on Parshat Tazria in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025— it will give you the correct Haftarah for any given year. You are absolutely correct that the Rosh Chodesh Nisan page should mention Shabbat HaChodesh when relevant, and I have now fixed that. 


https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/rosh-chodesh-nisan-2022


How to make clear the difference between this general information for a Parsha and date-specific information for a particular year? I’ve tried to make the difference clear by the different headers, and it’s clear to me, but obviously this system failed for your congregation, your needs, and your ASL interpreter.

As an aside, if you are a leyning coordinator, you might find some benefit from downloading the CSV spreadsheets for each Hebrew year. 

https://www.hebcal.com/home/48/download-aliyot-breakdown-of-torah-readings

These spreadsheets aren't a replacement for complete luach in the sense that they don't include slots for prayers like Shacharit and Musaf or special holiday readings like Megilat Ruth and Akdamut on Shavuot. But they do include the regular Torah readings and any special maftir or Haftarah.

At any rate, I appreciate your understanding. I don’t make any money running Hebcal, and I do it hoping to make the most clear and accessible information available, so if you can help me figure out how to better serve people navigating the site, I’ll definitely consider it for the next time I have a big chunk of time to re-design the site (typically every 5-10 years). If appropriate, please convey my apologies to your larger community.

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Fixed

Calendar downloads not working (.ics, .csv)

aron messin 2 years ago updated 2 years ago 4

I have been trying to download a Hebcal calendar, both as a csv and as an ics, and both times the download has not been working. It has been perpetually loading and not actually downloading. see pictures

Image 165

Image 166

Answer
Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago

Hi, thanks for using Hebcal, and thanks so much for the bug report.


The download server is working again correctly now.


We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.

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Answered

How do I get 5783 Candle lighting at glance?

snfineblum 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 1
Answer
Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago

Hi, thanks for using Hebcal, and thanks for your question!


You can visit the Candle-lighting Times Year at a Glance page and enter your location. Then, at the bottom of the printable page we have added prev/next links with both Hebrew and Gregorian years:

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Fixed

Fast day mincha missing

JoshG 2 years ago updated by Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago 2

For minor fast days, Hebcal currently lists the Torah reading which is read both in the morning and the afternoon, but the haftarah (read only in the afternoon) is not included.  On Tisha b’Av the afternoon Torah reading is different from the morning reading and there is a haftarah reading (also different from the morning’s haftarah), but Hebcal only shows the morning Torah reading and morning haftarah.  (For Yom Kippur mincha, Hebcal does give the Torah reading and haftarah, which are both different from what is read on Yom Kippur morning.) I think it would be better to include a mincha section for each minor fast day, indicating that the Torah reading is the same as in the morning, but there is also a haftarah.  For Tisha b’Av the different afternoon Torah reading and haftarah should be included, just like on Yom Kippur.

Answer
Michael J. Radwin 2 years ago

We've added the mincha Torah reading for Tisha B'Av and also for the minor fast day Mincha.

https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/tisha-bav

https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/tzom-tammuz

https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/taanit-bechorot

(etc)

Tish’a B’Av / תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב

Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 4:25-40

  1. 1: Deuteronomy 4:25-29 · 5 p’sukim
  2. 2: Deuteronomy 4:30-35 · 6 p’sukim
  3. 3: Deuteronomy 4:36-40 · 5 p’sukim

Haftarah: Jeremiah 8:13-9:23 · 34 p’sukim


Tish’a B’Av (Mincha)

Torah Portion: Exodus 32:11-14, 34:1-10

  1. 1: Exodus 32:11-14 · 4 p’sukim
  2. 2: Exodus 34:1-3 · 3 p’sukim
  3. 3: Exodus 34:4-10 · 7 p’sukim

Haftarah: Isaiah 55:6-56:8 · 16 p’sukim