Question 1

What does Jewish Calendar API do?

Accepted Answer

HebCal Jewish Calendar API is a comprehensive free API for working with the Hebrew (Jewish) calendar, providing date conversions between Gregorian and Hebrew calendar systems, Jewish holidays and observances, candle lighting times, Torah portion (parasha) schedules, and Zmanim (halachic times) calculations for any location worldwide. HebCal has been a trusted resource for Jewish communities since 1994 and serves Jewish community centers, synagogues, Jewish school platforms, and Jewish lifestyle apps that require accurate calendar data aligned with halachic (Jewish law) standards.

Hebrew date conversion allows converting any Gregorian calendar date to its Hebrew calendar equivalent, returning the Hebrew month name (Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishrei, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar), the Hebrew day of the month, and the Hebrew year. This bidirectional conversion supports Jewish app developers building applications that display both secular and Hebrew dates, or that calculate anniversaries according to the Hebrew calendar such as Yahrzeit (annual memorial dates) and Hebrew birthdays which may fall on different Gregorian dates each year.

Jewish holiday data includes major and minor holidays across the Jewish year: Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Chanukah, Tu BiShvat, Purim, Passover (Pesach), Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, Yom HaAtzmaut, Lag BaOmer, Shavuot, and Tisha BeAv. For Jewish community organizations in Nigeria operating Jewish cultural centers or supporting the small but active Nigerian Jewish communities, HebCal's holiday data enables building community calendars that keep members informed of upcoming observances.

Shabbat times and candle lighting times are calculated based on geographic location, providing the exact times for candle lighting on Friday evening (18 minutes before sunset by default, customizable) and Havdalah (the ceremony ending Shabbat, typically 42-50 minutes after sunset). Synagogues and Jewish community centers in Lagos and Abuja where Jewish communities exist can use HebCal to display accurate Shabbat times for Nigeria's geographic locations.

Torah portion (Parasha) schedules indicate which weekly Torah reading is being observed in a given week, following the annual cycle of reading the five books of Moses. Jewish schools, study groups, and synagogues in Nigeria can build weekly study schedule apps or synagogue bulletin generators that automatically show the current Torah portion and related resources.

Zmanim calculations provide the full range of halachic times for any date and location: astronomical dawn (Alot HaShachar), sunrise, the latest time for morning prayers (Sof Zman Tefila), noon (Chatzot), afternoon prayer window (Mincha Gedola, Mincha Ketana), sunset, nightfall (Tzet HaKochavim), and midnight. These precise times are essential for observant Jews who time their prayers and religious activities according to halachic standards, and Nigerian Jewish community app developers can provide these calculations calibrated to Nigerian cities.

The HebCal API is completely free with no registration required, making it accessible to Nigerian Jewish community developers, Jewish day school app developers, and cultural organizations supporting Jewish heritage in Nigeria. The API supports JSON output format for easy integration into web and mobile applications. The HebCal API supports JSON output with CORS enabled, making it directly callable from browser-based JavaScript applications — ideal for Nigerian Jewish community websites that want to display live Hebrew calendar data without a backend server. Developers can query the REST endpoints with simple HTTP GET requests, and the well-maintained documentation at hebcal.com/home/developer-apis covers all endpoints with examples.

Question 2

How much does Jewish Calendar API cost?

Accepted Answer

Jewish Calendar API is free to use. Completely free API

Question 3

How do I authenticate with the Jewish Calendar API API?

Accepted Answer

None

Question 4

Is there a rate limit on Jewish Calendar API?

Accepted Answer

Unlimited

Question 5

Does Jewish Calendar API offer a sandbox or test mode?

Accepted Answer

No public sandbox is documented for Jewish Calendar API. Check the official docs for the recommended way to test integrations safely before going live.

Question 6

What is Jewish Calendar API best suited for?

Accepted Answer

Jewish calendar, Hebrew dates, holidays, Torah portions

Question 7

Is there anything else I should know before integrating Jewish Calendar API?

Accepted Answer

Completely free and well-maintained. Globally accessible including Nigeria. Nigeria has a very small Jewish population, but the API is useful for any international calendar or multi-faith application.

Question 8

Where can I find Jewish Calendar API's documentation?

Accepted Answer

The official API documentation is at https://www.hebcal.com/api. The provider's website is https://www.hebcal.com.

Question 9

Does Jewish Calendar API support Nigerian developers?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Jewish Calendar API explicitly supports Nigerian developers/use cases.

Jewish Calendar API

Features Included

Not Supported

Key Highlights

Required Access Documents

Use Cases

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