FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What’s MobileGabbai about? »
We’re the first Minyan network with Minyan partnerships and updated weekly schedules. Minyanim and Shuls are required to maintain updated schedules online to remain active. Our goal is to provide you with the highest quality “know before you go” Minyan information.
How does MobileGabbai differ from other Minyan sites? »
We’re committed to providing you with the latest Minyan and schedule information for any Shul or Minyan in our network. In addition to Davening and Shiurim, we provide full schedule items including but not limited to: Zmanim, Davening, Shiurim, Pirchei, Bnos, Yomim Tovim and more.
How can a Minyan participate and become a partner? »
As you probably know by now, we aim to provide the highest quality of updated Shul schedules in a network format. To participate, we start with a commitment from your Minyan’s administration (the Rabbi, President, Vice President, or Board) in maintaining your Minyan’s weekly schedule.
If you’re on the administration, a Shul member or simply want to suggest a Shul you can suggest one here.
Can a work Minyan, office Minyan or less frequent Minyan be included? »
Sure! So long as there’s a committed individual such as a Minyan Gabbai to maintain the schedule. Schedules at these kinds of locations (i.e nursing homes) might change for local holidays and other events. We want to make sure our users see the most updated information.
If you’re a Minyan Gabbai, Minyan member or simply want to suggest a Minyan you can suggest one here.
Why can’t I find my Shul or Minyan? »
The short answer is your Minyan hasn’t partnered with us (yet). The long answer is we’re a Minyan Partnership Network consisting of partnerships, meaning Minyanim partner with us, guaranteeing the quality of each Minyan schedule. Your Shul might not know about us yet or they know about us but aren’t ready to commit to updating and maintaining a schedule on our site.
On each Minyan’s page, why does it say “and the next six days”? »
To clearly show that Schedule and Minyan information isn’t the current week unless today’s Sunday. Our calculations are always calculated for a week ahead including today – they wrap around to the next week until a week from yesterday.
When you visit a fresh Minyan page, the local Zmanim calculations (ie. Sunset/Shkiyah) and calculated Minyanim are calculated for a week, seven days including today. For example, if today’s Wednesday, the calculation is from today until Tuesday, so the Tuesday listed on the schedule is the upcoming Tuesday – not yesterday. Also, if today’s Friday, the Thursday listed is the upcoming Thursday – not yesterday. And so on.
Is Shkiah (and calculated Zmanim) calculated by city name or latitude and longitude? »
Calculated Zmanim are calculated by the location’s latitude and longitude giving a more precise time – not by the city’s name. This means that for a large city (ie. New York City) the calculation of Shkiah for Shuls on one side of the city might be a minute or two different from Shuls on the far end. The reason being that times for sunrise, sunset etc. vary at different degrees of latitude and longitude.
I see you use “Shul” and “Minyan” interchangeably. What’s the difference? »
Great question! In the real world they’re used the same but also used differently. Shul typically refers to the place we daven (ie. “I’m going to Shul”) while Minyan is usually the time-slot we daven at Shul (ie. “the 6:10am Minyan”).
There are exceptions, you might say “I’m going to Minyan” or refer to a Shul as Minyan, but you probably won’t say “the 7:45am Shul” (you might). On another level, office and work Minyanim usually use the term Minyan (ie. “the bakery Minyan”) since they’re not a Shul. We use them interchangeably to accommodate each.
Is MobileGabbai interested in partnerships? »
Another great question! We’re always looking to partner and connect with people with a similar focus. Contact us, choose “Partnerships” and we’ll be in touch in a jiffy.
What can I do if I have a Minyan question, feedback or suggestion? »
We love suggestions and connecting with our users, in fact it’s one of the ways we can continue and make this the best Minyan website. You can use the contact form here and we’ll be in touch asap!