✦ zenith calendar · the israel almanac
the festivals and fasts as israel keeps them, in one quiet layer of your sky, each day explained in its own tradition's words.
israel is one of the holiday almanacs that come with zenith calendar. it holds the hebrew calendar as it is kept in the land of israel, with israel's national days beside the festivals. where the diaspora keeps a second festival day, israel keeps one.
its dates come from published tables, not worked out on your phone, and every day begins at sunset the evening before. tap a day and read three short paragraphs: what it is, where it comes from, and how it is kept.
lunisolar · the hebrew calendar, each day beginning at sunset
the festival of lights
the 25th of kislev; the first light is kindled the evening before
the first full day of chanukah, for the rededication of the temple in jerusalem. by this day's evening, a second light burns.
the lights are kindled with blessings at nightfall, in a window or a doorway so that the miracle is seen, and hallel is sung in the morning. it is an ordinary working day with a festive air.
the festival of freedom
the 15th of nisan; the seder is held on the evening before
the first day of pesach, a full holy day remembering the going out from egypt. its night is the seder, held once in israel.
at the seder the family reads the haggadah, the youngest asks the questions, and the story is told over matzah, bitter herbs and wine. the day itself is a festival of rest, prayer and family meals.
the jewish new year
the 1st and 2nd of tishrei, kept on both days in israel too
the jewish new year: the day of judgment and the day the shofar is sounded.
the shofar is blown in the synagogue and the prayers proclaim god's kingship. at home round challah and apple are dipped in honey for a sweet year, and many go to running water for tashlich.
the day of atonement
the 10th of tishrei, from before sunset until nightfall the next day
the holiest day of the year: a full day of fasting and prayer, when the judgment of the new year is sealed. it is kept even on shabbat.
there is no eating or drinking; the evening opens with kol nidrei and the day ends with neilah and a long blast of the shofar. in israel the whole country falls still, with no cars on the roads.
zenith calendar draws the year as an orbit round the sun. lit, israel puts its days on their dates on that ring, in mint. its mark is its flag, 🇮🇱.
each holiday carries three short paragraphs in its notes: what it is, where it comes from as its own tradition or the country itself tells it, and how it is kept.
on a new install, your phone's own country starts switched on. if your phone's language setting names israel as its region, israel starts lit; anywhere else it waits in the archive, whole.
israel arrives locked, so nothing in it changes by accident. the lock guards your hand, not your eye: you can still read it, shine it or eclipse it from its chip. one tap unlocks it, and then it is yours to rename, recolour or add to.
israel shares one sky with your own commitments. like every almanac that comes with the app, it never counts toward the almanacs you can make for free, and it lives on your phone: zenith calendar has no server of its own.
✦ zenith calendar · the sky around it
israel is a single layer. beneath it is a whole calendar drawn as the sky, your year an orbit round the sun, and every part of it answers your touch.
the sun stands at the centre and the year rings round it, with today's earth riding at today's place, its small moon beside it. tap the ring anywhere else and a faint ghost earth waits on that day.
drag along the ring and the days pass under your finger, the big date and the day's list following as you go. lift, and the day you stopped on stays picked.
tap the small moon beside today's earth and you dive into the week. the moon above shows its phase, named underneath; swipe the dates and each week brings its own.
tap the sun and the ring tips on its edge into a ladder of years. in the week, pull the moon firmly down and the month opens, the moon resting half off its foot.
zenith calendar has no server of its own. tap the gear and switch on "nothing comes in" or "nothing leaves this phone"; lift them, and every almanac is back exactly as it was.
israel is waiting in the app, and the rest of the sky comes with it.
israel (the hebrew calendar as israel keeps it) ·
The first full day of Chanukah falls on 5 December 2026, the 25th of Kislev; the first light is kindled on the evening before. In Zenith Calendar it sits on the ring of your year in the israel almanac.
The first day of Pesach falls on 22 April 2027, the 15th of Nisan, with the seder held on the evening before. In Israel the seder is held once.
Rosh Hashanah falls on 2 and 3 October 2027, the 1st and 2nd of Tishrei, and Israel keeps both days. Like every day in the israel almanac, it begins at sunset the evening before.
Yom Kippur falls on 11 October 2027, the 10th of Tishrei. The fast runs from before sunset the evening before until nightfall.
Zenith Calendar for Android comes with an almanac called israel: the Hebrew calendar as it is kept in Israel, with the country's national days, drawn on the ring of your year beside your own days. Turning it on costs nothing.
Israel follows the calendar as it is kept in the land of Israel, without the second festival days the diaspora keeps, and carries Israel's national days. Jewish is the diaspora reckoning. They are separate almanacs, so you light the one you keep.
On a new install, the first page asks which almanacs start lit. If your phone's language setting names Israel as its region, the israel almanac starts switched on; otherwise it waits in the archive until you light it.
They are copied from published tables, not worked out on your phone. Israel's national days are moved away from Shabbat as Israeli law does, and the government sets each year's moves a year or so ahead.