What Is Hebcal and What Can You Do With It?

Hebcal (hebcal.com) is a Jewish calendar tool that generates holiday calendars, converts between Hebrew and Gregorian dates, and provides Shabbat candle-lighting and Havdalah times, Torah readings, and personal Yahrzeit reminders. It's useful if you want to look up a specific date, plan around Jewish holidays, or subscribe to a calendar feed in an app you already use. The site supports any year, past or present, and offers downloads for Apple, Google, Microsoft Outlook, and any app that accepts iCalendar (.ics) feeds.

Convert between Hebrew and Gregorian dates

The Date Converter lets you move in either direction: enter a Gregorian date to see the Hebrew equivalent, or enter a Hebrew date to find the matching civil date. It also shows today's date in a Hebrew font.

For example, the site's own homepage displays "Sun, 11 October 2026" alongside "30th of Tishrei, 5787" — a direct side-by-side of the two systems. If you're filling out a form, planning an event, or checking which Hebrew date a family occasion falls on, this is the fastest entry point.

Look up Jewish holidays for any year

The holidays section covers major, minor, and modern holidays, plus Rosh Chodesh, minor fasts, and special Shabbatot. You can view a single year, a six-year summary, or build a custom calendar.

The homepage example shows the year 5787 / 2026 with a "6-year summary" and "Custom calendar" option. This matters if you're planning ahead — for instance, checking whether a holiday falls on a weekday or Shabbat before scheduling a trip or event.

Get Shabbat candle-lighting and Havdalah times

Shabbat Times provides candle-lighting and Havdalah times for Shabbat and holidays, plus start and end times for fast days. The site states it supports over 100,000 world cities, so you can select your location rather than relying on a single default.

A "Year at-a-glance" view is available if you want the whole year's times in one place instead of checking week by week.

Find weekly Torah readings

The Torah Readings section gives an aliyah-by-aliyah breakdown for the Parashat ha-Shavua (weekly portion). It includes full kriyah, the triennial cycle, and weekday readings, plus spreadsheets intended for leyning coordinators.

The homepage example lists "Parashat Noach" with links to readings for 5787. If you're preparing a reading or coordinating assignments, the aliyah-level detail is the practical part — you can see exactly how the portion is divided.

Create Yahrzeit, birthday, and anniversary lists

You can build a personal list of Yahrzeit (memorial) and Yizkor dates, Hebrew birthdays, and anniversaries covering 20+ years. The site offers free annual email reminders and calendar downloads for these dates.

This is the feature to use if you want recurring reminders without manually recalculating Hebrew dates each year. "Get started" is the entry point on the homepage.

Download calendars to your own apps

Hebcal calendars can be downloaded for iPhone, iPad, Android (via Google Calendar), Outlook, macOS Desktop Calendar, or any app that supports iCalendar (.ics) feeds. Once subscribed, the dates appear inside the calendar app you already use rather than requiring you to visit the site.

Developer APIs

Hebcal is part of the Open Source Judaism movement and offers JavaScript, JSON, and RSS APIs so you can embed Hebcal content directly onto a website — for example, a synagogue site. The APIs are available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license.

What to check before you rely on it

• Location accuracy for times: Candle-lighting and Havdalah times depend on the city you select. Confirm your city is listed and matches your actual location before using the times.
• Custom vs. default calendar: The default view may not include every holiday category you need. Use "Customize calendar settings" to control what appears.
• Licensing: Site content is generally under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, and the developer APIs under CC-BY — attribution is required if you republish.
• Pricing and accounts: The homepage shows a "Sign in / Account" option and describes annual email reminders as free, but the provided material does not state pricing for any other feature. Check the site directly for current terms.