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זְמַנִּים

Answers · Zmanim

The times of the Jewish day

What the zmanim are, when Shabbat candles are lit, when Shabbat ends and why the day begins at night. The answer is the sun of your place; Kimá calculates it.

22 answers, each with its source

The moments of the day

What are the zmanim?The zmanim are the Jewish day's halachic hours, set by the sun — dawn, sunrise, midday, sunset, nightfall. Shema, prayer and Shabbat depend on them.What is alot hashachar?Alot hashachar is the first light of dawn, while it is still dark — the start of the halachic day for several mitzvot, set by the sun's angle where you live.What is netz hachama?Netz hachama is sunrise. Praying the Shema and Amidah right at sunrise — the vatikin custom — is the ideal, and it depends on your city's horizon.What is chatzot?Chatzot is solar midday — the exact midpoint between sunrise and sunset, not 12:00 on the clock. It ends Shacharit and opens the time for Minchah.What is the shkiah (sunset)?The shkiah is sunset — the moment that opens bein hashmashot, the doubtful twilight that lasts until the stars appear.What is tzet hakochavim (nightfall)?Tzet hakochavim is nightfall — when three medium stars appear, night and the new Jewish day begin, and Shabbat comes to its end.What is bein hashmashot (twilight)?Bein hashmashot is the twilight between sunset and nightfall — day or night uncertain, so Shabbat is welcomed earlier and kept later.What are the seasonal hours (sha'ot zmaniyot)?Seasonal hours (sha'ot zmaniyot) divide daylight into twelve equal parts — longer in summer, shorter in winter. The Shema deadline depends on them.

Shabbat and the candles

What time do you light the Shabbat candles?Shabbat candles are lit eighteen minutes before sunset (forty in Jerusalem). The exact time depends on your city and the date.What time does Shabbat end?Shabbat ends at nightfall, when three stars appear. Many wait 42 or 72 minutes after sunset, and mark the close with Havdalah.How is the end of Shabbat calculated?The end of Shabbat is set by tzet hakochavim — three stars. Customs use degrees of the sun below the horizon or fixed minutes: 42, 50, or 72.Why do Shabbat times change every week?Shabbat times follow sunset, which shifts daily with the season and your latitude. Late in summer, early in winter — never a fixed clock hour.What is plag haminchah?Plag haminchah is a quarter of the day before sunset. On erev Shabbat one may already receive Shabbat and pray Arvit from then.

The prayers of the day

Until what time can the morning Shema be said?The morning Shema is said until the end of the third proportional hour of the day. The limit shifts daily and by location.From what time may Minchah be prayed?Minchah may be prayed from minchah gedolah, half a proportional hour after midday. The ideal is to finish before sunset.What are the three daily prayers?The three daily prayers are Shacharit (morning), Minchah (afternoon), and Arvit/Maariv (evening), each with its own time by the zmanim.Until what time can you pray Shacharit?The Amidah of Shacharit runs until the end of the fourth halachic hour; the Shema until the third. Both depend on your day and place.

The calendar and the moon

Why does the Jewish day begin at night?Because the Torah counts evening before morning: 'and it was evening and it was morning, one day.' So Shabbat and the festivals begin at nightfall.How does the Hebrew calendar work?The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar: months follow the moon, and a leap month seven times in nineteen years keeps the year aligned with the sun.What is Rosh Chodesh?Rosh Chodesh is the start of the Hebrew month, at the new moon. It is announced on Shabbat, marked with Hallel and Yaaleh v'yavo, and lasts one or two days.What is the connection between the moon and the Hebrew month?Each Hebrew month begins at the new moon and its middle falls at the full moon. Exodus 12:2 gave our people the moon as its clock.Which direction do we face when we pray — the way toward Jerusalem?We pray facing the Land of Israel, in Israel toward Jerusalem, and there toward the Temple. From the Americas that is generally east or northeast.
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