Shabbat times for your city: candle lighting and havdalah
This free Shabbat times page shows this week’s Friday candle-lighting time and Saturday-night havdalah time for the city you choose, with a table for the next 12 or 52 weeks. It starts from your device’s time zone — New York for Shabbat times NYC, Miami, London, Jerusalem and more than 90 other cities with Jewish communities — and you can use your location or type any coordinates.
Candle lighting is set a fixed number of minutes before sunset: 18 minutes is the common custom, Jerusalem lights 40 minutes before, Haifa 30 and most of Israel 20. Havdalah is at nightfall, by default when the Sun is 8.5° below the horizon (the time three small stars can be seen), or a fixed 42, 50 or 72 minutes after sunset. Every option can be changed to match your community.
Times are calculated, not announced — follow your synagogue or rabbi where their calendar differs.
How to use the Shabbat Times
- Check the City, or press Use my location, or type Latitude, Longitude and Time zone.
- Pick any day in Week of, or press This week or Next week.
- Set Candle lighting (minutes before sunset) if your community uses another custom; City’s custom puts the usual value back.
- Choose the Havdalah rule your community follows.
- Read candle lighting in the large box, havdalah below it, and the countdown; switch the table between 12 weeks and 52 weeks, then Copy times or Download CSV.
Shabbat Times features
Customs built in
18 minutes before sunset by default, 40 for Jerusalem, 30 for Haifa and 20 elsewhere in Israel, applied when you pick the city and editable.
Five havdalah options
Nightfall at 8.5° or 7.083° below the horizon, or 42, 50 or 72 minutes after sunset.
Countdown
Shows how long until candle lighting this week, and once Shabbat has begun, how long until havdalah.
A year of Fridays
Twelve or 52 weeks of candle-lighting and havdalah times with the Hebrew date, to copy or download as CSV.
Checked against a published calendar
The automatic test compares the results with Hebcal’s published times for eight cities and requires agreement within a minute.
How candle-lighting and havdalah times are worked out
Sunset is the moment the top edge of the Sun touches a sea-level horizon, allowing for refraction — the Sun’s centre is 0.833° below the horizon. The Sun’s position comes from Jean Meeus’ Astronomical Algorithms. Candle lighting is sunset with the seconds dropped, minus the chosen minutes; a fixed-minute havdalah is sunset rounded to the minute plus the minutes; nightfall by angle is the moment the Sun’s centre is 8.5° (or 7.083°) below the horizon, rounded to the minute. These are the same rounding rules Hebcal’s open-source calendar library uses.
For example, in New York on Friday 23 October 2026 sunset is at 6:03:55 pm (shown as 6:04), so candle lighting — the minute of sunset less 18 — is 5:45 pm; on Saturday the Sun is 8.5° down at 6:44 pm, which is havdalah. In Jerusalem the same Friday, candle lighting 40 minutes before sunset is 17:18.
| City | Candle lighting | Havdalah (8.5°) | Havdalah (50 min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York — 1 Jan 2027 | 4:21 pm | 5:25 pm | 5:30 pm |
| Miami — 18 Jun 2027 | 7:56 pm | 8:54 pm | 9:05 pm |
| London — 18 Jun 2027 | 21:02 | 22:36 | 22:11 |
| Jerusalem — 24 Dec 2027 | 16:00 | 17:21 | 17:31 |
| Melbourne — 24 Dec 2027 | 20:25 | 21:31 | 21:33 |
High latitudes, elevation and other limits
North of about 58°, the Sun does not sink 8.5° below the horizon on midsummer nights — in Stockholm or Helsinki in June nightfall by angle never comes. The page says so; choose a fixed number of minutes after sunset, or ask your rabbi for the local practice. In the Arctic, where the Sun may not set at all, no time can be given.
Sunset here is calculated for sea level and does not include the local horizon, buildings or mountains. Communities on high ground sometimes use a later, elevation-adjusted sunset. The table covers Fridays and Saturdays only: festival (Yom Tov) candle lighting and fast times are not shown, and the weekly Torah portion is on the Torah portion of the week page. The comparison with Hebcal’s published times was made on 19 October 2026.
For other daily times see the sunrise and sunset calculator, and to plan around the Moon the moon phase calculator. The world clock helps when family lights candles in another time zone.
Shabbat Times FAQ
What time is Shabbat this week?
The large box shows this week’s candle-lighting time on Friday for the selected city, and havdalah on Saturday night is just below it. The city starts from your device’s time zone; change it if you are elsewhere.
What are the Shabbat times in NYC?
Choose New York (or Brooklyn, Teaneck, Lakewood …). Candle lighting is 18 minutes before sunset — for example 5:45 pm on 23 October 2026 — and havdalah at nightfall, 6:44 pm the next evening.
Why does Jerusalem light candles 40 minutes before sunset?
It is a long-standing Jerusalem custom; Haifa uses 30 minutes and much of Israel 20. Outside Israel 18 minutes is usual. Choose the city and the custom is applied, or type your own number.
Which havdalah time should I use?
Use your community’s custom. Nightfall at 8.5° below the horizon is a common default; many communities use 42 or 50 minutes after sunset, and some wait 72 minutes (Rabbeinu Tam).
Why do my synagogue’s times differ by a minute or two?
Calendars round differently, use slightly different coordinates or allow for elevation. This page agrees with Hebcal’s published times to within a minute. Follow your synagogue or rabbi.
Does this include Yom Tov candle lighting?
No — only the weekly Shabbat on Friday and Saturday. Check your community calendar for festivals.