Saturdays show information from friday?
Hi, once again thanks for the great API!
I use the API to update a calendar once a day using a simple microcontroller. By making a request once a day I hope to retreive the most actual data for that day (the earlier caching 'problem' seem to have resolved that).
This now does seem to work except for the saturdays, I've noticed that on the saturdays it will also include the previous friday candle lighting time.
Even when I specify the specific day to just the saturday like: gy=2022&gm=9&gd=10, I will still receive data from the day before. It only seems to do this on the saturdays.
Example URL: https://www.hebcal.com/shabbat?cfg=json&b=18&gy=2022&gm=9&gd=10
It feels like this is done on purpose, but I might be wrong. Is there any reason why this happens? And is there a way to overrule it?
Thanks for any help.
Hi, quick response: yes, indeed, this is by design. The Shabbat API always displays both Friday and Saturday, even if Friday has already passed.
No, there is no way to change this behavior.
If you want more control over date ranges use our Jewish calendar API and specify start and end parameters. The returned JSON is nearly identical to the Shabbat API so it should be easy to transition to this alternate API
Updated calendar not syncing
Hi, Thank you mradwin for your post about how to edit/update an existing calendar. I accessed the calendar, added the new dates I need to, then hit "update," and it generated a new 20-year list. Problem is that I don't see the changes reflected in the Google Calendar. And when I try to delete the calendar and re-download it, it still shows up as the original, unchanged version. Please advise. Thank you.
Hebrew fonts showing as gibberish
I use Hebcal for my synagogue's website in Israel now for several years, in CSV format (I use wordpress). However, when downloading the Hebrew calendar today for the coming year, the Hebrew font doesn't work. It comes out as gibberish characters.
׳¨ײ¹׳׳©׳ ׳—׳•ײ¹׳“ײ¶׳©׳ ׳©ײ°׳׳‘ײ¸׳˜
Did I do something wrong? I have lots of Hebrew fonts on my PC (since I live in Israel).
Thanks for writing back and thanks for providing that additional detail! I am glad to hear that The Events Calendar can correctly import Unicode CSV files even if Windows 7 cannot.
For what it's worth, we have tested the majority of the Hebcal.com website and download functionality on Windows 10 and Windows 11 so we are confident that it shows up correctly on those operating systems.
At this point Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft, so perhaps the best long-term solution here is for you to upgrade your home PC to a newer version?
Using Hebcal for an E-Yahrazeit Board
I am looking to create an electronic yahrzeit board that displays virtual "plaques" of loved ones during the month of their yahrzeit. I want to use HebCal as the backend to drive that. I would also like to integrate the zmainim clock/calendar, the weekly parasha, and the day yomi schedule on the board. Basically, I'm looking to build a stand-alone version of what www.digizman.com or www.beegeesystems.com offers without the subscriptions. Can HebCal support this? Has anyone done this already?
Can't get cache control headers to work
Hi all,
First of all thanks for this great API!!
I'm working on an application that sends out a request everyday to update the Jewish holidays on a calender. However I've noticed now 2 days in a row that it's using old data, even when I create a new request. I use this request:
https://www.hebcal.com/shabbat?cfg=json&b=18 (and a private geonameid)
I've put now cache control headers in my request with: cache-control: no-cache, or cache-control: no-cache, max-age=0. I've been playing around with the headers a little bit, but they all still result in receiving data from 2 days old. I know I can specify the date in the API request (or a HTTP header), but I'm using a simple device that doesn't know its current time and date and would make things pretty complicated, thus I was hoping anyone could help me out on how to properly get always fresh data!
I'm not sure whether I'm doing something wrong here, or if it's on the server side. The API docs: https://www.hebcal.com/home/197/shabbat-times-rest-api says it is able to handle cache-control.
Thanks for any help!
OK, we have modified the server configuration to respect Cache-Control: no-cache. The change is live in production.
Just to reiterate the point made earlier: given the design of the Shabbat API, your application should not need to send that header in order to operate correctly. The Shabbat API is designed to serve the current week's results through Sunday at midnight in the timezone of the city specified by the geonameid parameter. The Expires header is set explicitly so our caching servers reduce load on our app servers while preserving full functionality for clients like yours.
You can, of course, feel free to send the header, and it will now do as you expect: it will bypass our caching layer and force our app server to recalculate the current week's Shabbat info.
On August 29, 2022; I got a Yahrzeit reminder for 2023.
On August 29, 2022; I got a Yahrzeit reminder for 2023. Shouldn't it have been for the upcoming date next week in this year? All the other reminders were sent out a week before the date, not 53 weeks.
Shabbos chol hamoed sukkos
Hi, I'm using the Hebcal Converter in a spreadsheet. Is there a way to have it show Shabbos Chol Hamoed instead of the Sukkot VI (CH"M)?
Thanks for using Hebcal! Sorry we aren't able to change the names of the holidays.
You could use an Excel or Google Sheets formula to change the name, for example
=REPLACE(A1, "Sukkot VI (CH"M)", "Shabbos Chol Hamoed")
We hope this helps. Good luck!
5783 candle lighting at a glance having problems.
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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