About

Welcome to the Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef Calendar Website, this website was made to help you find out the most accurate zmanim of the day according to Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef ZT"L for your own city! The explanation of how each zman is calculated can be found later on in this page.

However, I would like to let anyone reading this to know that this website is 100% according to the opinion of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef ZT"L and uses the KosherJava/KosherZmanim API to do all the calculations. I have tried my best to make this website as accurate as possible, and to make the website as easy to use as possible.

There are some opinions that say that the zmanim of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef ZT"L that are calculated by the Ohr Hachaim calendar are only accurate for Israel, and that for the rest of the world, the zmanim are supposed to be calculated by the degrees of the sun like the Ashkenazim (their reason being because that is more accurate according to nature). Some opinions even go as far as to say that we should only use the degree calculations that the Ashkenazim use to find out the length of a shaah zmanit. However, I have personally spoken with Rabbi David Yosef Shlita (January/17/2023, while he was in NY), and he has told me personally that these opinions are incorrect. Therefore, the correct way to calculate the zmanim of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef ZT"L is like how the Ohr Hachaim calendar does it in Israel (which is the same way that this website does it) FOR EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

Basic things to know about the website.

1.) The website automatically gets your current elevation in meters based on the latitude and longitude of your city. If you want to change this, you can do so by manually entering your location or by changing the elevation directly in the URL. You can also press the "Do not use elevation" button to remove elevation from the calculations. "Visible sunrise tables from Chaitables.com have not been implemented yet, but will be in the future".

2.) There are a few different minhagim to choose from in the settings part of the website. Make sure to choose the correct ones for your city/kehila. For example, the default candle lighting time is set to 20 minutes before sunset, and the default end time for shabbat is set to 40 minutes after sunset. Please change these settings to your own customs by going to the settings page or by clicking on the numbers between the parentheses.

3.) Lastly, the zmanim can be included with seconds, DO NOT RELY ON THESE SECONDS. The only zman that can be relied on to the second is the visible sunrise time from chaitables.com. Otherwise, these zmanim are NOT accurate to the second! You should always round up or down a minute or two just in case.

Explanation of how the zmanim are calculated

Dawn - Alot HaShachar

This time is calculated as 72 zmaniyot/seasonal minutes (according to the GR"A) before sunrise. The zmaniyot minutes are calculated by taking the time between Sunrise and Sunset and dividing it by 12. Both sunrise and sunset have elevation included, so there will be a slight difference from the sunrise and sunset times that are provided by other calendars. This is the way that the Ohr Hachaim calendar calculates the times in Israel (which is the same way that this website does it) for everywhere in the world.

Misheyakir - Earliest Talit/Tefilin

This time is calculated as 6 zmaniyot/seasonal minutes (according to the GR"A) after Alot HaShachar (Dawn) or 66 zmaniyot/seasonal minutes (according to the GR"A) before sunrise.

Sunrise - HaNetz

Ideally, the time for sunrise should be calculated using the time that the chai tables provides for visible sunrise for your city. However, if the user does not download the times from the website (TODO), the app defaults to Mishor/Sea Level Sunrise provided by the KosherJava API. Which is usually good enough for most people. The sunrise time will not take elevation into account.

Eating Chametz - Achilat Chametz

This is calculated as 4 zmaniyot/seasonal hours, according to the Magen Avraham, after Alot HaShachar (Dawn) with elevation included. These zmaniyot minutes are calculated by taking the time between Alot HaShachar (Dawn) and Tzeit Hachocavim (Nightfall) of Rabbeinu Tam and dividing it into 12 equal parts. We use the Magen Avraham's time because Chametz is a D'orayta mitzvah.

Burning Chametz - Biur Chametz

This is calculated as 5 zmaniyot/seasonal hours, according to the MG"A, after Alot HaShachar (Dawn) with elevation included.

Latest time for Shma (MG"A)

The Magen Avraham/Terumat HeDeshen calculates this time as 3 zmaniyot/seasonal hours after Alot HaShachar (Dawn). They calculate a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between Alot HaShachar (Dawn) and Tzeit Hachocavim (Nightfall) of Rabbeinu Tam and dividing it into 12 equal parts.

Latest time for Shma (GR"A)

The GR"A calculates this time as 3 zmaniyot/seasonal hours after sunrise (elevation included). The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts.

Brachot Shma

The GR"A calculates this time as 4 zmaniyot/seasonal hours after sunrise (elevation included). The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts.

Mid-Day - Chatzot

This time is calculated as 6 zmaniyot/seasonal hours after sunrise. The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts.

Earliest Mincha - Mincha Gedolah

This time is calculated as 30 regular minutes after Chatzot (Mid-Day). However, if the zmaniyot/seasonal minutes are longer, we use those minutes instead to be stringent. The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts. Then we divide one of those 12 parts into 60 to get a zmaniyot/seasonal minute."

Mincha Ketana

This time is calculated as 9 and a half zmaniyot/seasonal hours after sunrise. The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts. Then we divide one of those 12 parts into 60 to get a zmaniyot/seasonal minute.

Plag HaMincha

This time is usually calculated as 10 and 3/4th zmaniyot/seasonal hours after sunrise, however, yalkut yosef writes to calculate it as 1 hour and 15 zmaniyot/seasonal minutes before tzeit. The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts. Then we divide one of those 12 parts into 60 to get a zmaniyot/seasonal minute.

Candle Lighting

This time is calculated as 20 regular minutes before sunset (elevation included) by default. You can change this in the settings or by clicking on the number of minutes.

Sunset - Shkia

Halachic sunset is defined as the moment when the top edge of the sun disappears on the horizon while setting (elevation included).

Nightfall - Tzeit Hacochavim

This time is calculated as 13 and a half zmaniyot/seasonal minutes after sunset (elevation included). The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts. Then we divide one of those 12 parts into 60 to get a zmaniyot/seasonal minute. NOTE: This time is very early in the winter and especially in the far north or south. This zman should NOT be used to decide when shabbat ends or any other serious matters without consolidating a rabbi first!

Fast Ends - Tzeit Taanit

This time is displayed twice, the first time is calculated as 20 regular minutes after sunset (elevation included). This is what is displayed as halacha in Chazon Ovadiah. The second time is calculated as 30 minutes after sunset (elevation included). This is the opinion of Chacham Ben Tzion Abba Shaul in his sefer "Ohr L'Tzion".

Shabbat/Chag Ends - Tzeit Shabbat/Chag

Note that there are many customs on when shabbat ends, by default, it is set to 40 regular minutes after sunset (elevation included), however, you can change the time in the settings or by clicking on the number of minutes.

Rabbeinu Tam

This time is calculated as 72 zmaniyot/seasonal minutes after sunset (elevation included). The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts. Then we divide one of those 12 parts into 60 to get a zmaniyot/seasonal minute in order to calculate 72 minutes. Another way of calculating this time is by calculating how many minutes are between sunrise and sunset. Take that number and divide it by 10, and then add the result to sunset.

Midnight - Chatzot Layla

This time is calculated as 6 zmaniyot/seasonal hours after sunset. The GR"A calculates a zmaniyot/seasonal hour by taking the time between sunrise and sunset (elevation included) and divides it into 12 equal parts. In this case, we use sunrise for the next day.

Click here to see the introduction to the calendar in Israel or press on the icon on the top right of each zman to see these explanations.