Tag: Jewish date

Halachic Dateline and the Incheon Airport (near Seoul, South Korea)

Chazon Ish Dateline Map
Chazon Ish Line on the Dateline Map

A primer on the Halachic Dateline

A primer for this halachic dateline post if you are not familiar with the subject, is the earlier Halachic Date Line Map post about the Jewish date-line. Based on the opinion of the Ba’al Hamaor, the Chazon Ish ruled that the dateline is 90° east of Yerushalayim, and it can’t split a landmass. The concept of graira is used to drag the land past the dateline to the water’s edge. This concept of graira is based on the Yesod Olam, a talmid/disciple of the Rosh. For this reason, according to the Chazon Ish, Korea and Australia follow the local date and not the previous date.

Islands Connected to Mainland by a Bridge

A question touched on in the previous article that was mostly theoretical, was about an island connected by a bridge to the mainland. Would the concept of graira apply to the island? The kollel members in Melbourne and others do not visit Phillip Island on Sundays for this reason, but Chabad chassidim who do not follow the Chazon Ish’s opinion, do visit Phillip Island on Sundays.

Islands in Bays

There are differing opinions whether an island in a bay would also be included in graira. Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Goldstein in his השבת בכל מושבותיכם (pages 85-88) brings the following opinions. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach in הליכות שלמה (Moadim, vol. 2, page 70) is of the opinion that an island in a bay would be considered part of the land that partially surrounds it. In the same vein, (but not specifically in reference to a bay), Rabbi Moishe Sternbuch in מועדים וזמנים vol 7, ch. 236 mentions something similar (that the easternmost border of Australia would be a vertical line from north to south at the longitude of Brisbane, the eastern-most point of Australia). What is not clear is how large a bay can be. Rabbi Goldstein mentions that drawing a line from Siberia to Malaysia (thus creating a “bay”), would put Japan on the same side of the dateline as the Asian mainland. The Chazon Ish clearly stated that Japan was past the dateline. Presumably, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch would agree that such a large area would not be included in graira. Given the lack of detail about the size of bays, it is possible that these poskim would only include very small bays (within the techum perhaps). It should be noted that Japan is only in the “bay” if you use a rhumb-line. Drawing a great circle line would result in Japan being out of the “bay”. Rabbi Dov Landau in the פשר חזון, and Rabbi Moshe Heinemann do not include bays as part of the graira zone. Rabbi Sternbuch was asked about bays by Rabbi Goldstein, and he agreed that according to the Chazon Ish, bays would not be included in graira, so Rabbi Sternbuch either reversed his earlier opinion, or he disagrees with the Chazon Ish’s opinion.
There are related opinions that bays themselves do not drag islands within them into graira unless land to their east is part of graira. See Rabbi Leib Blum’s קו התאריך בכדור הארץ for details. For example the Sea of Okhotsk is to the west of the Kamchatka Peninsula. This means that they are of the opinion that you can’t have land to the east that is part of graira such as the Kamchatka Peninsula, and have Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Island to the west of it that is considered past the line, (and back again to Siberia that is part of graira). The same would be the case in the portion of the Yellow Sea to the west of the Korean Peninsula and east of the Chazon Ish line, as well as the above mentioned Phillip Island and French island that are in the Western Port Bay near Melbourne. Bays such as Moreton Bay that includes Bribie and other islands near Brisbane, as well as Ulleungdo Island in the Sea of Japan would not be included in graira, since there is no graira land to the east of it.

Incheon International Airport and the Halachic Dateline


In January 2019, the Star-K held a Kashrus training seminar in Shanghai for mashgichim who live or work in Asia. Among the sessions, was a shiur about the halachic dateline by Rabbi Dovid Heber who shared the URL to my halachic dateline map with the participants. One of the mashgichim, Rabbi Yosef Wexler, who travels from Eretz Yisrael to Asia regularly, noticed a potential issue related to the Incheon airport, the main airport in South Korea (near Seoul). The airport is located on Yeongjong Island, that is connected to mainland South Korea by two long bridges. The island is within a Bay (formerly Chemulpo Bay), that is itself within the Yellow Sea that is itself a vary large bay. If graira would not apply here (bridges and bays would not be considered a connection) and you followed the opinion of the Chazon Ish, the airport would observe Shabbos on local Sunday (the same issue faced in Japan). This impacts mashgichim who bypass Japan on Sundays, and regularly fly to Korea on flight KE958 on Motza’ei Shabbos from Israel on their way to China etc. The flight lands at about 3pm Sunday local time, when the airport may be observing Shabbos. It would also impact anyone else who plans on flying in or out of the airport between Motza’ei Shabbos and Sunday night.

Psak Halacha

Please consult a posek before relying on this for halacha lema’aseh. There are a number of opinions, and I will touch on a few of them.

As per Rabbi Heber, Rabbi Yonasan Weiner (a posek in Ohr Sameach) asked R’ Chaim Kanievsky about Phillip Island (that as mentioned above, has a bridge and is in a bay), and he said that it is ‘צריך עיון’. Based on this, Rabbi Moshe Heinemann ruled that if someone is in the Incheon airport from shkiah on Friday (local day) until it gets dark on Saturday, one should keep regular Shabbos. From when it gets dark on Saturday night until it gets dark on local Sunday deoraisas should be avoided, but derabanans are permissible. This would permit most activities. The following quote in Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Goldstein’s השבת בכל מושבותיכם should be noted:

שמעתי מדודי הגאון רבי משה היינעמאנן שליט״א שאולי גבול היבשה הוא כשיעור תחום שבת מסוף היבשה

Yeongjong Island is at its closest 1,950 meters from mainland South Korea (from the eastern tip of the island to Wolmido, a former island that is now connected to land), and thus beyond tchum Shabbos. It is therefore not within the extended maritime graira zone. This applies to Incheon, but not the Yellow Sea. Rabbi Heber in his note to the Star-K mashgichim stated that melachos deoraisa should not be done within 35 minutes of landing since that is the earliest time the KAL958 flight passes the Chazon Ish line over the Yellow Sea. At this point according to the Chazon Ish it would be Shabbos. This was also mentioned by Rabbi Goldstein as a possible deoraisa. See below for more details.

Permissible Activities on Incheon Island on Sundays

There are many variables and variations in various melachos, so please consult a posek before relying on this for halacha lema’aseh.

Note: This list is only meant for Incheon airport on Sundays (from Motza’ei Shabbos until it turns dark on Sunday night) and other areas where a majority of opinions hold it is a weekday, but an accepted minority hold it is Shabbos. This list should not be used in any other locations or on a day that is accepted as Shabbos.

  • Traveling as a passenger to and from Incheon airport by plane or car. You do not have to worry about the 12 mil tchum Shabbos.
  • Carrying your belongings more than 4 amos outside the airport, or carrying them into the airport – there is no reshus harabim deoraisa on the island
  • Deplaning with your muktzeh luggage.
  • Walking in the airport including the use of escalators and moving sidewalks.
  • Triggering automatic sensor doors, sensors in bathrooms etc. (there no need to wait for someone else to activate it).
  • Scanning boarding or other passes (including to open electronic gates).
  • Going through security, taking muktzeh out of pockets, and passing through metal detectors.
  • Electronically signing into a lounge.
  • If a paper signature or writing is required, try to avoid it. If there is no other option, use your alternate hand (left for a righty, right for a lefty). An ambidextrous person can’t do shinuy by changing hands, and can’t sign or write.
  • Typing on a computer and typing or calling with cellphones is permissible, but the screen saver or the automated powering down of the monitor has to activate by itself to “erase” your writing. For power saving and security reasons, almost all computers will end up having a screensaver or a monitor power down and clear the screen. If this is not in place, and your “writing” will remain on the screen, it is more of a maaseh ksiva. Saving the document to your hard drive is permissible.

Problematic Activities During This Time

  • Opening a taxi door that causes the dome light to turn on (ask the driver to open your door, or have him open his door first, thus turning on the dome light)
  • Writing (with paper and pen).
  • Showers in the lounge should be avoided since there can be deoriasas involved.
  • Making coffee should be done the same way you would do it on Shabbos. Instant is fine, brewing fresh in a machine should not be done.

Rabbi Shlomo Miller in his approbation to the above mentioned Hashabbos Bechol Moshvosaichem, mentions that:

… והביא שטה אחת דכדי שיראה הוי בכלל אסטרליא וכן הי׳ דעתי נוטה [כמובן א״א להביא ראיות ברורות בזה] אולם יש להוסיף דלפי הגמ׳ בכורות נ״ד: עד ט״ז מיל הוי שעור כדי שיראה ויש אחרונים שהביאו מזה לגבי היקף מחיצות בשבת במחיצות הנעשות מאליהן דצריך שיהא העומד בתוכו רואה את המחיצות ע״כ עד ט״ז מיל יש מקום להסתפק אפשר שנגרר אחר אסטרליא.

This intuition (that he is unsure of) would potentially remove the questionable status of Incheon airport.

Rabbi Shmuel Meir Katz, a posek in Lakewood, discussed the Incheon airport question (focused on the fact that it is on a a man-made portion of the island) in his Time Zone Shailos speech at the The Association of Kashrus Organizations’s 2018 Vaadim conference (24:50 into the recording). He said that a chaburah in Lakewood, NJ brought down a תוספתא נגעים פ״ו ה״ג that ״בית שבים אין מטמאין בנגעים״. The גר״א has a girsa ״בית שבים מטמאין בנגעים״. The ר״ש in נגעים פ׳ י״ב מ״א explains that

בית שבים: מדקתני בית שבים ובית שבספינה משמע דתרי מילי נינהו דשבים אפילו בנוי על גבי קרקע הים שהביאו אבנים וטיט ושפכו בים עד שנעשה כמין תל ובנו עליו בית אין מטמא בנגעים משום דכתיב ״ארץ״ ולא ים

This implies that the only questionable status is for נגעים, but otherwise, man-made land would have the status of natural land. Rabbi Katz holds that the bridge itself would connect the island and give it the same halacha as the mainland. It should be noted that Rabbi Katz also discussed the issue of The Sea of Okhotsk. His opinion is that the line follows the contour of the land, and the Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Island would not be included in graira, but mentioned that Rabbi Leib Blum felt that it should be included due to it being to the west of land that has graira.

Rabbi Mordechai Kuber in his upcoming book, Crossing the Dateline (expected to be published later this year) strongly feels that there is no problem in Incheon airport on Sundays due to it being in a bay (that is in itself a safek). The question of the bridges, its proximity to land, and the many sandbars between it and the land make it at most a sfaik sfaika, which most poskim should agree is not an issue even according to the Chazon Ish. This sfaik sfeka is in addition to the other opinions who do not agree with the Chazon Ish, and are of the opinion that Incheon is not east of the halachic dateline, and therefore Saturday is Shabbos in Incheon, and not Sunday.

Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Goldstein in a letter to me mentioned that there is a possibility of a deoraisa in flying on a flight that is completely or partially on Shabbos

… this is comparable to one who boards a plane which takes off before Shabbos and lands after Shabbos, which, as the Shailos U’Teshuvos Minchas Yitzchok 2:106, the Shailos U’Teshuvos Tzitz Eliezer 1:21 and the Shailos U’Teshuvos Shraga HaMeir write, involves an issur d’oraysa transgressing the chiyuv of “shabosson” which is not fulfilled while on an airplane ride. (However, it could be that there is a sevara to say that there is a difference in the d’oraysa of “shabosson” between flying on an airplane for the whole Shabbos and flying over the Yellow Sea for a short time …). If, indeed, this involves an issur d’oraysa, this creates a problem not only for people who follow the opinion of the Chazon Ish with regard to the dateline, but even for people who refrain from issurim d’oraysa on the Shabbos of the Chazon Ish. If so, regardless of whether or not the sevara of graira applies to Incheon Airport, I would think that people should still not be flying to that airport on Sunday. Second of all, even if I am mistaken in the above comparison and there is no issur d’oraysa to fly over the Yellow Sea while it is Shabbos in the Yellow Sea, it would be worthwhile for you to mention in your article that at least while the airplane is flying over the Yellow Sea one should certainly be careful not to perform any melacha d’oraysa such as writing. I am not trying to offer a psak about these points, but I think there is reason to consult with a poseik whether these issues need to be mentioned in your article.

It should also be noted that on page 83 of השבת בכל מושבותיכם, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky is quoted with a different psak than the one quoted above by Rabbi Yonasan Weiner. Rabbi Goldstein sent the following question to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky

שמעתי שבחוף הים של אוסטרליה יש גשרים ובנינים שנבנו בידי אדם שיוצאים מן היבשה לתוך קצה הים, האם גם בנינים אלו וגשרים אלו המחוברים ליבשה נגררים אחר שאר ארץ אוסטרליה או רק הארץ שנעשה שם בידי שמים ולא מה שניתוסף בידי אדם בתוך הים?

Rabbi Kanievsky replied with his typical brevity

נגררים

I would like to thank Rabbi Dovid Heber, Rabbi Shmuel Meir Katz, Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Goldstein, Rabbi Mordechai Kuber, My father-in-law R’ Feivel Muller and my wife for reviewing this article.
This article is published in memory of my mother-in-law Mrs. Helen Muller חיה בת ר׳ יצחק הכהן ע״ה.

FAQ: Different Parshas Hashavua in Eretz Yisrael Than Chutz La’aretz

Question:

Why does the KosherJava Zmanim API seem to sometimes return the incorrect parshas hashavua in Israel?

Answer:

I have had a number of inquiries this year about the incorrect Parshas Hashavua being returned by the API. In all cases this has been a complaint for Eretz Yisrael and not Chutz La’aretz. The explanation is pretty simple and covered in the API documentation for the JewishCalendar class, but may not be clear to all. When the first day of Pesach occurs on a Shabbos, as it did this year (5775), the last day of Pesach in Eretz Yisrael is on a Friday. The following day is a regular Shabbos in Eretz Yisrael with the usual krias hatorah, but in chutz la’aretz it is the 8th day of Pesach, resulting in Pesach kriah. The following weeks will have different krias hatorah in Eretz Yisrael vs chutz la’aretz, and this will continue for a number of weeks until a double parsha in chutz laaretz is added to equalize the parsha. This last occurred in 2012 (before the release of the calendar functionality in the Zmanim 1.3 release), and will occur again next year. If you are coding to display the Parshas Hashavuah for use in Israel, it is important to set the inIsrael flag (it defaults to false).

JewishDate.setInIsrael(true);

A fuller example showing how to set the indicator and showing the comparison of Eretz Yisrael and Chutz Laaretz this year can be seen in this example.

JewishCalendar israelCalendar = new JewishCalendar(5775, JewishDate.NISSAN, 7);
israelCalendar.setInIsrael(true); //set the calendar to Israel
JewishCalendar chutsLaaretzCalendar = new JewishCalendar(5775, JewishDate.NISSAN, 7);
chutsLaaretzCalendar.setInIsrael(false); //not really needed since the API defaults to false
HebrewDateFormatter hdf = new HebrewDateFormatter();
System.out.println("Date\tChutz Laaretz / Eretz Yisrael"));
for(int i = 0; i < 57; i++){
	israelCalendar.forward(); //roll the date forward a day
	chutsLaaretzCalendar.forward(); //roll the date forward a day
	if(chutsLaaretzCalendar.getDayOfWeek() == 7){ //ignore weekdays
		System.out.println(hdf.formatParsha(chutsLaaretzCalendar) + "\t" + hdf.formatParsha(israelCalendar) + " \\ " + hdf.format(chutsLaaretzCalendar));
	}
}

the output of this is

Date               Chutz Laaretz / Eretz Yisrael
8 Nissan, 5775     Tzav / Tzav
15 Nissan, 5775     / 
22 Nissan, 5775     / Shmini
29 Nissan, 5775    Shmini / Tazria Metzora
6 Iyar, 5775       Tazria Metzora / Achrei Mos Kedoshim
13 Iyar, 5775      Achrei Mos Kedoshim / Emor
20 Iyar, 5775      Emor / Behar
27 Iyar, 5775      Behar Bechukosai / Bechukosai
5 Sivan, 5775      Bamidbar / Bamidbar

It should be noted that this discrepancy is not rare and happens about 25% of the calendar years.

Using the Zmanim API 1.3.0 Jewish Calendar Code

Sunrise CalendarThe recently released Zmanim API 1.3.0 added Jewish calendar support to the API. Previously, the API had zmanim support, but no Jewish calendar support. While the calendar code is in beta mode and is subject to API changes, below are some simple code examples using the current 1.3.0 release. These examples of the use of the JewishCalendar and HebrewDateFormatter classes do not fully cover the functionality available in the Zmanim API. Please read the JavaDocs and experiment. Please let me know if there are any calendar related items that you feel should change or be added to the API.

Setting and outputting formatted dates

JewishCalendar jd = new JewishCalendar(); // current date 23 Nissan, 5773
HebrewDateFormatter hdf = new HebrewDateFormatter();
System.out.println(jd); // prints hebrew date in English chars - 23 Nissan, 5773
hdf.setHebrewFormat(true); // change formatting to Hebrew
System.out.println(hdf.format(jd)); // date formatted in Hebrew
jd.setJewishDate(5729, JewishDate.SHEVAT, 21); // set the date to 21 Shevat, 5729
System.out.println(hdf.format(jd)); // date formatted in Hebrew
jd.setJewishDate(5772, JewishDate.NISSAN, 18); // set date to third day of Pesach
System.out.println(hdf.format(jd));
System.out.println(hdf.formatYomTov(jd)); //output Chol Hamoed Pesach in Hebrew
hdf.setHebrewFormat(false); // change formatting to default
System.out.println(hdf.format(jd)); // prints Hebrew date in English chars - 18 Nissan, 5772
System.out.println(hdf.formatYomTov(jd)); //output Chol Hamoed Pesach

Output:

23 Nissan, 5773
כ״ג ניסן תשע״ג
כ״א שבט תשכ״ט
י״ח ניסן תשע״ב
חול המועד פסח
18 Nissan, 5772
Chol Hamoed Pesach

Parshas Hashavua

Please note that the parsha will only input if the date is a Shabbos. This is something that may change down the line.

HebrewDateFormatter hdf = new HebrewDateFormatter();
JewishCalendar jd = new JewishCalendar(5773, JewishDate.NISSAN, 12);
System.out.println(hdf.formatParsha(jd));
hdf.setHebrewFormat(true);
System.out.println(hdf.formatParsha(jd));
jd.back();
System.out.println("Parsha on Friday [" + hdf.formatParsha(jd) + "]"); //no Parsha output on a non Shabbos
jd.setJewishDate(5773, JewishDate.TAMMUZ, 28); //double parsha
System.out.println(hdf.formatParsha(jd));

Output:

Tzav
צו
Parsha on Friday []
מטות מסעי

Rosh Chodesh

HebrewDateFormatter hdf = new HebrewDateFormatter();
JewishCalendar jd = new JewishCalendar(5773, JewishDate.NISSAN, 1);
if(jd.isRoshChodesh()){ //not necessary for formatter
	System.out.println(hdf.formatRoshChodesh(jd));
}
hdf.setHebrewFormat(true);
System.out.println(hdf.formatRoshChodesh(jd));
jd.forward();// roll calendar to second day of Nisan
System.out.println("output[" + hdf.formatRoshChodesh(jd) + "]"); //no output for Rosh Chodesh Formatting

Output:

Rosh Chodesh Nissan
ראש חודש ניסן
output[]

Daf Yomi

JewishCalendar jd = new JewishCalendar();
HebrewDateFormatter hdf = new HebrewDateFormatter();
System.out.println(hdf.format(jd)); //output current formatted date "13 Nissan, 5773"
Daf daf = jd.getDafYomiBavli(); //get the current daf
System.out.println(daf.getMasechtaTransliterated()); //outout transliterated masechta name "Eruvin"
System.out.println(daf.getDaf()); //output current daf (page) number "16"
System.out.println(hdf.formatDafYomiBavli(daf)); //outout the formatted date "Eruvin 16"
hdf.setHebrewFormat(true); //set formatted to Hebrew
System.out.println(hdf.format(jd)); //output date in Hebrew "י״ג ניסן תשע״ג"
System.out.println(daf.getMasechta()); // output masechta name in Hebrew "עירובין"
System.out.println(hdf.formatHebrewNumber(daf.getDaf()));//output the daf number formatted in Hebrew "ט״ז"
System.out.println(hdf.formatDafYomiBavli(daf)); //output daf and masechta in Hebrew "עירובין ט״ז"

Output:

13 Nissan, 5773
Eruvin
16
Eruvin 16
י״ג ניסן תשע״ג
עירובין
ט״ז
עירובין ט״ז

Chanukah

JewishCalendar jd = new JewishCalendar(5772, JewishDate.KISLEV, 25); //set date to first day of Chanukah
HebrewDateFormatter hdf = new HebrewDateFormatter();
System.out.println(jd);//output current transliterated date
System.out.println(jd.getDayOfChanukah()); //output #1
System.out.println(hdf.formatYomTov(jd)); //output Chanukah 1
hdf.setHebrewFormat(true); //set format to hebrew
System.out.println(hdf.formatHebrewNumber(jd.getDayOfChanukah())); //output 1 in Hebrew
System.out.println(hdf.formatYomTov(jd)); // output Chanukah 1 in hebrew

Output:

25 Kislev, 5772
1
Chanukah 1
א׳
א׳ חנוכה

Note, that there is no simple way at this point to output just Chanukah. This will likely change in the future to match Chanukah to the behavior of other Yomim Tovim.

Loop and output an entire year

JewishCalendar jc = new JewishCalendar(5773, JewishDate.TISHREI, 1);
jc.setInIsrael(false); //default false for clarity but not needed. Set to true for Israel
HebrewDateFormatter hdf = new HebrewDateFormatter();
hdf.setHebrewFormat(true);
HebrewDateFormatter hdfTransliterated = new HebrewDateFormatter();
String hebrewOutput = "";
String transliteratedOutput = "";
while(jc.getJewishYear() == 5773){
	hebrewOutput = hdf.format(jc);
	transliteratedOutput = hdfTransliterated.format(jc);
	if (jc.isYomTov() || jc.isTaanis()) {
		hebrewOutput += ", " + hdf.formatYomTov(jc);
		transliteratedOutput += ", " + hdfTransliterated.formatYomTov(jc);
	} else if(jc.getDayOfWeek() == 7){
		hebrewOutput += " - " + hdf.formatParsha(jc);
		transliteratedOutput += " - " + hdfTransliterated.formatParsha(jc);
	}
	if (jc.isChanukah()) {
		if (hebrewOutput.length() > 0) {
			hebrewOutput += ", ";
			transliteratedOutput += ", ";
		}
		hebrewOutput += hdf.formatYomTov(jc);
		transliteratedOutput  += hdfTransliterated.formatYomTov(jc);
	}
	if (jc.isRoshChodesh()) {
		if (hebrewOutput.length() > 0) {
			hebrewOutput += ", ";
			transliteratedOutput += ", ";
		}
		hebrewOutput += hdf.formatRoshChodesh(jc);
		transliteratedOutput += hdfTransliterated.formatRoshChodesh(jc);
	}
	if(jc.getDayOfOmer() > 0){
		hebrewOutput += ", ";
		transliteratedOutput += ", ";
		hebrewOutput += hdf.formatOmer(jc);
	}
	System.out.println(transliteratedOutput + " - " + hebrewOutput);
	jc.forward();
}

Output (most days removed for brevity):

1 Tishrei, 5773, Rosh Hashana - א׳ תשרי תשע״ג, ראש השנה
2 Tishrei, 5773, Rosh Hashana - ב׳ תשרי תשע״ג, ראש השנה
3 Tishrei, 5773, Fast of Gedalyah - ג׳ תשרי תשע״ג, צום גדליה
4 Tishrei, 5773 - ד׳ תשרי תשע״ג
...
6 Tishrei, 5773 - Vayeilech - ו׳ תשרי תשע״ג - וילך
...
10 Tishrei, 5773, Yom Kippur - י׳ תשרי תשע״ג, יום כיפור
...
15 Tishrei, 5773, Succos - ט״ו תשרי תשע״ג, סוכות
16 Tishrei, 5773, Succos - ט״ז תשרי תשע״ג, סוכות
17 Tishrei, 5773, Chol Hamoed Succos - י״ז תשרי תשע״ג, חול המועד סוכות
18 Tishrei, 5773, Chol Hamoed Succos - י״ח תשרי תשע״ג, חול המועד סוכות
19 Tishrei, 5773, Chol Hamoed Succos - י״ט תשרי תשע״ג, חול המועד סוכות
20 Tishrei, 5773, Chol Hamoed Succos - כ׳ תשרי תשע״ג, חול המועד סוכות
21 Tishrei, 5773, Hoshana Rabbah - כ״א תשרי תשע״ג, הושענא רבה
22 Tishrei, 5773, Shemini Atzeres - כ״ב תשרי תשע״ג, שמיני עצרת
23 Tishrei, 5773, Simchas Torah - כ״ג תשרי תשע״ג, שמחת תורה
...
30 Tishrei, 5773, Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan - ל׳ תשרי תשע״ג, ראש חודש חשוון
1 Cheshvan, 5773, Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan - א׳ חשוון תשע״ג, ראש חודש חשוון
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25 Kislev, 5773, Chanukah 1 - כ״ה כסלו תשע״ג, א׳ חנוכה
26 Kislev, 5773, Chanukah 2 - כ״ו כסלו תשע״ג, ב׳ חנוכה
27 Kislev, 5773, Chanukah 3 - כ״ז כסלו תשע״ג, ג׳ חנוכה
28 Kislev, 5773, Chanukah 4 - כ״ח כסלו תשע״ג, ד׳ חנוכה
29 Kislev, 5773, Chanukah 5 - כ״ט כסלו תשע״ג, ה׳ חנוכה
1 Teves, 5773, Chanukah 6, Rosh Chodesh Teves - א׳ טבת תשע״ג, ו׳ חנוכה, ראש חודש טבת
2 Teves, 5773 - Miketz, Chanukah 7 - ב׳ טבת תשע״ג - מקץ, ז׳ חנוכה
3 Teves, 5773, Chanukah 8 - ג׳ טבת תשע״ג, ח׳ חנוכה
...
10 Teves, 5773, Tenth of Teves - י׳ טבת תשע״ג, עשרה בטבת
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15 Shevat, 5773, Tu B'Shvat - ט״ו שבט תשע״ג, ט״ו בשבט
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21 Shevat, 5773 - כ״א שבט תשע״ג
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11 Adar, 5773, Fast of Esther - י״א אדר תשע״ג, תענית אסתר
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14 Adar, 5773, Purim - י״ד אדר תשע״ג, פורים
15 Adar, 5773, Shushan Purim - ט״ו אדר תשע״ג, פורים שושן
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27 Adar, 5773 - Vayakhel Pekudei - כ״ז אדר תשע״ג - ויקהל פקודי
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15 Nissan, 5773, Pesach - ט״ו ניסן תשע״ג, פסח
16 Nissan, 5773, Pesach,  - ט״ז ניסן תשע״ג, פסח, א׳ בעומר
17 Nissan, 5773, Chol Hamoed Pesach,  - י״ז ניסן תשע״ג, חול המועד פסח, ב׳ בעומר
18 Nissan, 5773, Chol Hamoed Pesach,  - י״ח ניסן תשע״ג, חול המועד פסח, ג׳ בעומר
19 Nissan, 5773, Chol Hamoed Pesach,  - י״ט ניסן תשע״ג, חול המועד פסח, ד׳ בעומר
20 Nissan, 5773, Chol Hamoed Pesach,  - כ׳ ניסן תשע״ג, חול המועד פסח, ה׳ בעומר
21 Nissan, 5773, Pesach,  - כ״א ניסן תשע״ג, פסח, ו׳ בעומר
22 Nissan, 5773, Pesach,  - כ״ב ניסן תשע״ג, פסח, ז׳ בעומר
23 Nissan, 5773,  - כ״ג ניסן תשע״ג, ח׳ בעומר
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26 Nissan, 5773 - Shmini,  - כ״ו ניסן תשע״ג - שמיני, י״א בעומר
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6 Sivan, 5773, Shavuos - ו׳ סיוון תשע״ג, שבועות
7 Sivan, 5773, Shavuos - ז׳ סיוון תשע״ג, שבועות
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17 Tammuz, 5773, Seventeenth of Tammuz - י״ז תמוז תשע״ג, שבעה עשר בתמוז
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9 Av, 5773, Tishah B'Av - ט׳ אב תשע״ג, תשעה באב
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15 Av, 5773, Tu B'Av - ט״ו אב תשע״ג, ט״ו באב
...

Zmanim API 1.3.0 Released

Zmanim API 1.3.0 ReleaseThe Zmanim API version 1.3.0 was released on March 4th, 2013 כ״א אדר תשע״ג. Various changes in the new release VS the previous version 1.2.1 that was released in May 2010 can be seen below. This release includes beta support for Jewish Calendar calculations as well as a number of updated zmanim and refactored code. The Jewish Calendar support in the Zmanim API is based on Avrom Finkelstien’s HebrewDate project released in 2002. Unlike the Zmanim code, the Jewish calendar interfaces may change significantly in the future (see Jay Gindin’s various changes that may make it into this API) and should therefore be considered beta.

Changes in the Zmanim API 1.3.0 release

Changes since March 23, 2011 have been in SVN and detailed changes can be seen there.

The Halachic Date Line Map


The International Date Line is an internationally agreed upon, arbitrarily selected, line that demarcates one calendar day from the next. This line is about 180° from Greenwich and was selected since it is opposite Greenwich and mostly runs through uninhabited areas. The line (see the gray line in the map above) meanders around national borders and island groups. The halachic date line is a complex subject with various opinions. See Rabbi Dovid Heber’s excellent article A Traveler’s Guide to the International Date Line in the Star-K Kashrus Kurrents for additional information. This line changes from time to time, as countries decide to change from one side of the date line to the other. The most recent change was when Samoa shifted to the west of the line at the end of 2011. Discussing the Samoa change in a December 29th, 2011 Yeshiva World article How to Keep This Shabbos in Samoa?, Rabbi Dovid Heber stated that

According to almost all opinions, the Halachic Date Line is not determined by what the locals call “Saturday” and therefore, the fact that Samoa changes the date line does not change when we keep Shabbos.

As far as I know, until this point, there has not been a very exact map allowing one to determine with clarity the exact parts of the world affected by the Halachic Date Line. As an example see Rabbi Yisroel Taplin’s sefer Taarich Yisrael תאריך ישראל for a discussion about possibly not visiting the Philippines due to questions about the exact location of the date line. With the introduction of the Halachic Date Line Map such ambiguities can be laid to rest since users can zoom in to find the exact locations of various opinions on the map (see the map partially zoomed in to the Philippines for example).

Location of the Halachic Date Line

There are various opinions about the location of the halachic date line. The three main opinions of the location of the Halachic Date Line are:

  1. The Chazon Ish quoting the Kuzari and the Baal Hamaor who state that the date line is 90° east of the Har Habayis.
  2. Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky (author of the Gesher Hachaim) who wrote the היומם בכדור הארץ Hayomam Bekadur Haaretz stating his opinion that the date line is 180° east (or west) of Har Habayis. Among those agreeing with this opinion is Rabbi Elyashiv. Since this line is exactly halfway around the world from Yerushalayim, a person on different sides of this line will face different directions when davening (using the rhumb line method). A person located west of the line will daven westward, and a person east of the line will daven eastwards. See the Bearing to Yerushalayim Map for a location along this line (the green line). Click on the blue pushpin in the map (below the green line) for additional information on the antipodal point of the Har Habayis.
  3. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher in his קו התאריך הישראלי Kav Hattarich Hayisraeli is of the opinion that the International Date Line is used. Among those agreeing with this opinion was Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer.

The locations of the three lines are mostly over the Pacific Ocean, but in some places the lines intersect dry land. Examples of this are Russia, Korea and Australia that are split by the Kuzary and Baal Hamaor’s line (see the map above). The Chazon Ish brings the opinion of the Yesod Olam (a disciple of the Rosh) that when the line intersects dry land, the line is extended eastward (or on occasion westward according to the 180° opinion). This extension is referred to as “Graira”, where the land to the west “drags” the land it is attached to, to within the line. In the map, both the 90° (Chazon Ish) and 180° (Rabbi Tucazinsky) lines are measured from Har Habayis. Specifically the measurements in the map are from the center of the Dome of the Rock. This is the location of the Kodesh Kodashim according to the Radvaz. According to the Radak the center of the Dome of the Rock is the location of the Mizbeach, and the Kodesh Kodashim is 101 amos (about 54 meters / 180 feet) west of this point. According to the Radak the International Date Line would be 101 amos west of the lines in the map.

How the Map Works

The Halachic Date Line Map works like any other Google Map. You can zoom into any area to see a close-up. Clicking on the lines and shaded in “Graira” areas will provide some details about it. The map will show a very clear and exact position of the Halachic Date Line according to different halachic opinions.

Interesting points on the map

  • Tahania Atoll, a small atoll in French Polynesia that is intersected by Rabbi Tucazinsky’s line. To the south of this point is the island of Rapa Iti. There is an interesting Halachic phenomenon at this location with Kiddush Levana in December 2027. See Rabbi Heber’s Sefer Shaarei Zemanim שערי זמנים. Rabbi Heber graciously allowed me to post סימן ד׳ – קונטרס זמן קידוש לבנה of the Shaarei Zemanim here. The discussion of Kiddush Levana on Rapa Iti appears on page 14 of the pdf which is page 32 in the sefer.
  • The Wrangell Mountain Homestead in Alaska, along the Edgerton Highway between Kenny Lake, and Chitina seems to be the only inhabited place that is that is intersected by Rabbi Tucazinsky’s line. The line cuts through what seems to be a barn. Thank you Rabbi Heber for this interesting observation.
  • Ikema Island is intersected by the Baal Hamaor’s line. According to the Chazon Ish “Graira” covers the entire Ikema Island, but would not (according to Rabbi Dovid Heber of the Star-K) extend over the bridge to Miyakojima Island.
  • The line of the Baal Hamaor runs through Changchun, China a city of 7 million. According to the Chazon Ish, “Graira” would mean the line does not split the city.
  • Are islands on Lake Argyle, a 100 miles inland but with a river leading to the ocean included in Graira using the Chazon Ish’s line? According to Rabbi Heber the river would “not ruin graira”, and such islands would be included. Would you say the same thing for French and Phillip Islands near Melbourne, Australia? Rabbi Heber is of the opinion that one should be machmir on these islands.
  • Clarity about exactly what parts of the Philippines are on the other side of the date line. Some say it is better not to travel to the Philippines due to questions of the placement of the Baal Hamaor/Chazon Ish line, but the date line map clarifies any ambiguities about this part of the world.

Additional Reading

I would like to thank Rabbi Dovid Heber for the input and assistance in preparing this post.

Calculating Kiddush Levana Times Using the Zmanim API

Crescent MoonCalculating the earliest and latest times for Kiddush Levana has not been part of the KosherJava Zmanim API until now. This is because unlike other zmanim that solely rely on solar calculations that are tied to the Gregorian calendar, times for Kiddush Levanah depend on the Jewish calendar molad (lunar conjunction) computation. With the recent addition of Jewish calendar support to the alpha releases of the KosherJava Zmaim API 1.3, molad calculation was added, allowing for calculation of kidush levana times. Times include the earliest time calculated as 3 and 7 days after the molad. Sof zman kidush levanah includes the Maharil’s opinion that it is calculated as halfway between molad and molad, and the more lenient full 15 days from the molad mentioned by the Mechaber in the Shulchan Aruch. It should be noted that some opinions hold that the Rema who brings down the opinion of the Maharil’s of calculating half way between molad and molad is of the opinion that the Mechaber agrees with him. Also see the Aruch Hashulchan. For additional details on the subject, See Rabbi Dovid Heber’s very detailed writeup in Siman Daled (chapter 4) of Shaarei Zmanim.

Calculating the Molad

Kidush levanah times depend on the time of the molad. The time of the molad announced in shuls on Shabbos Mevarchim is the time of the Molad Emtzai (Average Molad) in Yerushalayim local mean time. This has to be converted to standard time. Standard time uses time zones to unify clock times across a large area. With 360° of longitude around the globe, the world is divided into 24 timezones (one per hour) resulting in timezones that are 15° of longitude each. Har Habayis with a longitude of 35.2354° is 5.2354° away from the 30° longitude line. Multiply the 5.235° by 4 minutes per degree (15° of longitude per hour) to reach 20.94 minutes, or 20 minutes and 56.496 seconds (5.235 * 4 = 20.94). This time is subtracted from the local molad time to arrive at Standard time. Since the time of the molad is at the same instant globally (unlike zmanim such as sunrise that depend on a person’s location), converting this to a user’s local time involves simply calculating the time difference between the time in Yerushalayim and your location. If daylight savings time is in use, this has to be added to the calculation. Java date formatting classes do this calculation on Date objects without forcing the developer to do any calculations.

Calculating the Start and End of Kiddush Levana Times

The JewishCalendar class contains the methods for claculating these zmanim. Calculating Tchilas Zman Kiddush Levana (the earliest time Kiddush Levana can be said) is done by adding 3 days or 7 days to the molad time. Sof Zman Kiddush Levana (the latest time Kiddush Levana can be said) is either the time between molad and molad calculated by adding 14 days, 18 hours, 22 minutes and 1.666 seconds to the molad (half the 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 1 chelek (3.333 seconds)), or by adding 15 days to the molad.

Using the Zmanim API Calculate Molad Based Times

Here is sample code for calculating various kiddush levana times for anywhere in the world for Shevat 5729 (1969). Since formatting classes requires a timezone for proper formatting, the simple code below assumes that you are looking for the time in your local timezone. If you want the time for a timezone other than the one your computer is in, set the SimpleDateFormat.setTimeZone() to the timezone you wish to display the times for.

int year = 5729;
int month = JewishDate.SHEVAT;
Date tchilas3Days = JewishCalendar.getTchilasZmanKidushLevanah3Days(year, month);
Date tchilas7Days = JewishCalendar.getTchilasZmanKidushLevanah7Days(year, month);
Date sofZmanBetweenMoldos = JewishCalendar.getSofZmanKidushLevanahBetweenMoldos(year, month);
Date sofZmanKidushLevanah15Days = JewishCalendar.getSofZmanKidushLevanah15Days(year, month);
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("MMM dd, yyyy 'at' HH:mm:ss z");
System.out.println("Tchilas Zman Kiddush Levana 3 Days: " + sdf.format(tchilas3Days));
System.out.println("Tchilas Zman Kiddush Levana 7 Days: " + sdf.format(tchilas7Days));
System.out.println("Sof Zman Kiddush Levana Between Moldos: " + sdf.format(sofZmanBetweenMoldos));
System.out.println("Sof Zman Kiddush Levana 15 Days: " + sdf.format(sofZmanKidushLevanah15Days));

this will output the following in an EST timezone.

Tchilas Zman Kiddush Levana 3 Days: Jan 21, 1969 at 06:06:29 EST
Tchilas Zman Kiddush Levana 7 Days: Jan 25, 1969 at 06:06:29 EST
Sof Zman Kiddush Levana Between Moldos: Feb 02, 1969 at 00:28:31 EST
Sof Zman Kiddush Levana 15 Days: Feb 02, 1969 at 06:06:29 EST

Kiddush Levana Times During Daylight Hours

As you can see, all of these times are at night (After tzais 72 and prior to Alos 72 minutes in Montreal). Many times, these calculations will result in times that are during daylight hours when Kidush Levana can’t be said. When using the API and calculating the time for the tchilas zman kiddush levana and the time is during daylight hours, the earliest time should be tzais the following night. When the calculated time of sof zman kiddush levana is during daylight hours, the time posted should be alos on the previous night. The API may at some point support a method of automatically calculating this.

FAQ: How do I Calculate the Jewish/Hebrew Date for …?

Sunrise Calendar

This FAQ is now obsolete. Jewish Calendar Calculations are now supported. See the Zmanim API 1.3.0 Release announcement

Question:

How do I get the Jewish Date for … using the Zmanim API?

Answer:

The current version of the Zanim API does not support Jewish calendrical calculations. Zmanim are almost exclusively based on the solar calendar, so for example, the sunrise on February 8th this year in Montreal (or any other date and location), will be almost the same every year. for this reason there was little point (as far as zmanim) to support Jewish date calculations in the API. One of the only zmanim to rely on a Jewish date is the sof zman kidush levanah calculation, though there are some opinions that it is purely molad based, and this can be calculated without a Jewish calendar component to the API. This zman is obviously not currently implemented in the Zmanim API. I am currently working on adding Jewish date support to the API. The code is based off Avrom Finkelstein‘s no longer active HebrewDate project. I refactored a lot of the code and fixed a number of bugs. Anyone interested in alpha testing this code can download the latest Zmanim SVN code.
I mentioned that it “will be almost the same every year” and this is due the the approximate 1/4 day drift between the 356 day calendar year and the approximately 365.25 days actually present in the astronomical year, a discrepancy corrected every leap year. A future FAQ (probably a few of them) may delve specifically into this drift as well as general zmanim accuracy issues in detail.
If you are simply looking to convert a Hebrew date to Gregorian or Gregorian to Hebrew online without the API, try the JewishGen calendar conversion tools.