Hebcal MCP Server

An MCP server that provides access to Shabbat times and Jewish holidays using the Hebcal API.

Description

This server allows you to get up-to-date and accurate information about:

• Shabbat candle lighting and Havdalah times for various cities in Israel

• The next upcoming Jewish holiday

• All upcoming holidays and Shabbat times

Prerequisites

Install dependencies using uv:

Installation and Setup in Claude Desktop

Step 1: Save the File

Save the code in a file named hebcal_server.py in a convenient location on your computer.

Step 2: Configure Claude Desktop

Open the Claude Desktop configuration file:

On macOS:

On Windows:

Step 3: Add Server Configuration

Add the following configuration to the config file:

Note: Replace /path/to/hebcal-mcp.py with the full path to your file.

For example:

• macOS: "/Users/username/mcp-servers/hebcal-mcp"

• Windows: "C:\\Users\\username\\mcp-servers\\hebcal-mcp"

Step 4: Restart

Close and restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect.

Available Tools

1. get_shabbat_times

Returns candle lighting and Havdalah times for the upcoming Shabbat in a specific Israeli city.

Input:

• city (str): City name in English

Supported Cities:

• jerusalem

• tel aviv

• haifa

• beer sheva

• ashdod

• eilat

Output: A list with two items:

Usage Examples:

• "When is Shabbat in Ashdod?"

• "Show me Shabbat times in Jerusalem"

• "What time does Shabbat end in Tel Aviv?"

Example Response:

2. get_all_shabbat_times

Returns all Shabbat candle lighting and Havdalah times until the end of the year.

Input: No parameters

Output: A list of all upcoming Shabbat times:

Usage Examples:

• "Show me all upcoming Shabbat times"

• "When are all Shabbats until the end of the year?"

Example Response:

3. get_the_next_holiday

Returns the next upcoming Jewish holiday.

Input: No parameters

Output: A list with one holiday:

Usage Examples:

• "When is the next holiday?"

• "What holiday is coming up?"

• "What's the next Jewish holiday?"

Example Response:

4. get_all_holiday_times

Returns all Jewish holidays until the end of the year.

Input: No parameters

Output: A list of all holidays:

Usage Examples:

• "Give me a list of all upcoming holidays"

• "What are the holidays until the end of the year?"

• "Show me all the holidays"

Example Response:

Natural Language Interaction Examples

The beauty of this MCP server is that you can ask questions in natural language, and Claude will understand and provide the information in a conversational way.

Shabbat Times Queries

Q: "When is candle lighting in Ashdod?"
A: "Shabbat candle lighting in Ashdod is on Friday, November 14, 2025 at 16:24..."

Q: "What time does Shabbat end in Tel Aviv this week?"
A: "Havdalah (Shabbat end) in Tel Aviv will be on Saturday, November 15 at 17:19..."

Holiday Queries

Q: "What's the next Jewish holiday?"
A: "The next holiday is Sigd on Thursday, November 20, 2025. Sigd is a holiday celebrated by Ethiopian Jews..."

Q: "When does Chanukah start this year?"
A: "Chanukah starts on December 14, 2025 with the lighting of the first candle..."

Multi-City Queries

Q: "Compare Shabbat times in Jerusalem and Eilat"
A: Claude will call the tool twice and provide a comparison of both cities

Contextual Questions

You can also ask follow-up questions:

• "What about next week?" (after asking about Shabbat times)

• "And the holiday after that?" (after asking about the next holiday)

• "What time in Haifa?" (after discussing Shabbat times in another city)

Claude maintains context and understands what you're referring to!

Troubleshooting

Server Doesn't Appear in Claude Desktop

1. Verify the file path is correct and has no typos

2. Check that uv is installed and accessible: uv --version

3. Ensure dependencies are installed: uv add fastmcp requests

4. Try restarting Claude Desktop

Runtime Errors

If you encounter errors, check:

• The JSON file is valid (no extra commas)

• All brackets are properly closed

• The path doesn't contain spaces without quotes

Testing the Server Manually

You can run the server directly for testing:

Data Source

Information comes from Hebcal.com - a reliable source for Hebrew calendar information.

License

This code uses Hebcal's public API. Please review Hebcal's terms of service for commercial use.

Notes:

• Shabbat times are calculated separately for each city

• Times are automatically updated according to the Hebrew and civil calendars

• Information includes holidays, Rosh Chodesh, and other special days