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Hebcal by voice on the Amazon Echo/Alexa

amazon echo alexa We are pleased to announce that we have released an Alexa Skill for Hebcal for users with an Amazon Echo device.

Skills are new voice-driven capabilities that enhance the functionality of your Alexa device. Turning on the Hebcal skill lets you ask questions such as:

  • Alexa, ask Hebcal when Shabbat starts.
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal for candle lighting times in 02906.
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal for the Torah portion.
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal when is Chanukah in 2018?
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal for today’s Hebrew date.
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal for the Omer count.
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal for Daf Yomi.
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal to convert October 20th.
  • Alexa, ask Hebcal when is Rosh Chodesh?
  • Alexa, open Hebcal.

Hebcal is pronounced HEEB-kal, as in HEBrew CALendar.

To turn on the Hebcal skill, follow these instructions:

  1. Open the Alexa app.
  2. Open the left navigation panel, and then select Skills.
  3. Scroll through the list of available skills. When you want to go to a different page, select Next or Previous at the bottom of the list.
    Tip: You can also use the Search bar to find a specific skill, or sort skills by title, average customer review, or release date.
  4. When you see a skill you want to use, select Enable.

Look for new features in the coming months. We’re planning to add candle-lighting times for Shabbat and holidays, Daf Yomi, and more. Update March 2016 – these features are now available!

If you have a suggestion for what you’d like to see in the Hebcal Alexa Skill, please share your feedback with us!

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iPhone and iPad – remove Hebcal Jewish calendar (without iCloud)

To remove a Hebcal calendar from your iPhone or iPad that was subscribed directly from the iOS device, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Settings app, then touch Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
  2. Tap Subscribed Calendars:
    hebcal-iphone-calendars-subscribed-2
  3. Tap the Hebcal calendar that you wish to remove from the list of subscribed calendars:
    hebcal-iphone-calendars-subscribed-3
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and tap Delete Account
    hebcal-iphone-calendars-subscribed-4
  5. Tap Delete Account again to confirm.

See also: iCloud – remove Hebcal Jewish calendar

iCloud – remove Hebcal Jewish calendar

To remove an iCloud-managed Hebcal calendar from your iPhone or iPad, follow these three steps.

  1. Go to your Calendar app and tap Calendars at the bottom of the screen:hebcal-iphone-calendars-subscribed-0
  2. If you subscribed via iCloud, you will you see it in the iCloud section like this:
    hebcal-iphone-calendars-icloud-2
  3. Tap the circled small ⓘ info icon next to the Hebcal calendar name
  4. Scroll down and tap Delete Calendar
    hebcal-iphone-calendars-icloud-3
  5. Tap Delete Calendar again when prompted “Are you sure you want to delete this calendar? All events associated with the calendar will also be deleted.”

See also: iPhone and iPad – remove Hebcal Jewish calendar (without iCloud)

iPhone, iPad, iOS – remove Hebcal Jewish calendar

To remove a Hebcal calendar from your iPhone or iPad, you’ll need to first determine if you subscribed via iCloud or whether you subscribed directly from your iOS device.

Here are specific instructions for each option.

To determine which option applies to you, first go to your Calendar app and tap Calendars at the bottom of the screen:hebcal-iphone-calendars-subscribed-0

Subscribed via iCloud

If you subscribed via iCloud, you will you see it in the iCloud section like this:

hebcal-iphone-calendars-icloud-2

Read iCloud – remove Hebcal Jewish calendar for further instructions.

Subscribed directly on iPhone or iPad

If you subscribed directly on your iOS device, you will see Hebcal in the Subscribed section like this:
hebcal-iphone-calendars-subscribed-1

Read iPhone and iPad – remove Hebcal Jewish calendar (without iCloud) for further instructions.

Chanukah candle lighting times

Due to popular demand, we’ve added support for Chanukah candle-lighting times.

If you specify a city for Shabbat and Yom Tov candle lighting times, you’ll see Chanukah candle lighting show up as a timed event. If you don’t enable candle-lighting times (and instead choose the generic Diaspora or Israel locations) you’ll see Chanukah events show up as all-day (untimed) events reminding you to light candles that evening.

Candle-lighting times should show up on all iCalendar feeds (Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, iPhone, etc) when the application refreshes Hebcal events. This could take up to a week for the refresh, depending on the app.

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