✦ zenith calendar · the jewish almanac
the jewish year in one quiet layer of your sky, each day explained in its own tradition's words.
jewish is one of the holiday almanacs that come with zenith calendar. it holds the hebrew year in the diaspora reckoning. in israel, and in reform practice, the second days of yom tov are not kept, and the almanac's own page says so.
its dates come from published tables, not worked out on your phone, and each 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, diaspora reckoning
the festival of lights
eight days from the 25th of kislev
the festival of lights, for the rededication of the temple in jerusalem and the oil that burned for eight days. the first candle is lit on the evening before the app's date.
each night a light is added to the menorah, lit with blessings in a window or a doorway so that the miracle is seen; latkes and sufganiyot are eaten, and children play with the dreidel.
pesach · the festival of freedom
seven days in israel, eight in the diaspora
the festival of freedom, remembering the going out from egypt. it begins with the seder on the first night, and in the diaspora on the second night too.
the house is cleaned of all chametz, leavened grain, and only matzah and food free of leaven is eaten; at the seder the family reads the haggadah and the youngest asks the four questions.
the jewish new year
the 1st of tishrei, kept for two days
the jewish new year, the day of judgment and the day the shofar is sounded.
the shofar is blown in the synagogue and long prayers proclaim god's kingship; at home round challah and apple are dipped in honey for a sweet year.
the day of atonement
the 10th of tishrei
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.
from before sunset to nightfall the next day there is no eating or drinking, and the day is spent in the synagogue, from kol nidrei to neilah, which ends with a single long blast of the shofar.
zenith calendar draws the year as an orbit round the sun. lit, jewish puts its days on their dates on that ring, in ice blue. its mark is ✡, the star of david.
each day carries three short paragraphs in its notes: what it is, where it comes from as its own tradition tells it, and how it is kept.
jewish 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. one tap unlocks it, and then it is yours to rename, recolour or add to.
tap its chip in the legend to eclipse it (kept, but not drawn) and tap again to bring it back. nothing is deleted either way.
jewish 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
jewish 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.
jewish is waiting in the app, and the rest of the sky comes with it.
jewish ·
Hanukkah begins on 5 December 2026, the twenty-fifth of Kislev; the first candle is lit on the evening of 4 December. In 2027 it begins on 25 December.
Passover begins on 22 April 2027, with the first seder on the evening before. It is kept for eight days in the diaspora and seven in Israel.
Rosh Hashanah falls on 2 and 3 October 2027, beginning at sunset on 1 October. In 2026 it fell on 12 and 13 September.
Yom Kippur falls on 11 October 2027, from before sunset on 10 October to nightfall. In 2026 it fell on 21 September.
Zenith Calendar for Android comes with an almanac called jewish: the festivals and fasts of the Hebrew year, drawn on the ring of your year beside your own days. Turning it on costs nothing.
Jewish holds the diaspora reckoning, with the second festival days kept outside Israel. Israel holds the Hebrew calendar as it is kept in the land of Israel, with one festival day where the diaspora keeps two, and the national days. They are separate almanacs, so you light the one you keep.
They are copied from published tables, not worked out on your phone, and each day is given as the civil day. Every day begins at sunset the evening before.