Zemanim

zemanim -- a simple calculator for halachic times

"zemanim" is a command-line program which calculates and displays "halachic times". It is designed to be easily customized by means of the included "ini" file.

Invoking "zemanim" produces a display like:

Halachic times for Maale Adummim:
            dawn  sunup shema tfila m:ged m:qet m:plg sundn night midnt shaah sedra
10 Oct 2009 05:02 05:38 08:31 09:29 11:53 14:46 15:59 17:12 17:42 23:25 00:57 holiday
16 Oct 2009 05:06 05:42 08:32 09:29 11:51 14:42 15:53 17:05 17:35 23:24 00:56 Bereshit
23 Oct 2009 05:11 05:47 08:34 09:30 11:49 14:37 15:47 16:58 17:27 23:23 00:55 Noach
30 Oct 2009 05:16 05:53 08:37 09:32 11:49 14:33 15:42 16:51 17:21 23:22 00:54 Lech-Lecha

Of course, one may modify the behavior by giving command-line options. For example, invoking "zemanim Chicago 1" gives:

Halachic times for Chicago:
            dawn  sunup shema tfila m:ged m:qet m:plg sundn night midnt shaah sedra
07 Oct 2009 06:21 06:54 09:46 10:43 13:06 15:58 17:10 18:22 18:55 00:08 00:56 holiday

The various options can be found by invoking "zemanim -h". It is also informative to look inside the "zemanim.ini" file which is distributed with the program.

The current version is 2.02, and is available here. The zip includes Windows, Linux and Mac OS/X versions of the program (which are functionally identical). Unpack the zip file somewhere on your PATH, and enjoy. The 'zemanim.ini' file must be located in the same place as the program file in order for it to take effect.

Halachic Times

Judaism determines correct times for various ritual observances on astronomically visible phenomena. The most important of these are "sunrise", "sunset" and "visibility of three stars".

About

The program is written in Reva Forth, and the source code will be available in the 9.0.6 and later releases (not yet released).

Please send Ron your feedback on this program.