Davka Corporation

Hanukkah comes early this year — it starts the evening of Dec. 1 — so gift givers better get on the ball! What better last-minute gift than these Jewish-themed iPad apps, hand-picked for a variety of backgrounds and ages? (To gift an app, click the triangle next to the price on the app’s iTunes Store page and choose “Gift This App.”) ($19.99) If you had to pick only one prayer-book app, Siddur HD is the most comprehensive. The main focus of the app is a complete Jewish daily (but not Shabbat) prayer-book. It contains a variety of styles for different backgrounds, such as Ashkenazi and Sephardi. The app includes only the Hebrew text, but an in-app upgrade ($8.99) includes the English for most prayer (but not transliterations). Siddur HD uses the iPad’s GPS to find your local prayer times (Zmanim) and the compass function to show the proper direction to pray. The app even helps you find a local minyan and a Luach (Jewish calendar) tells you the Hebrew date and upcoming holidays (with push functions as well). The iPad version is an outstanding example of putting the iPad’s real estate to good use, as you can see in the Zmainm and Luach integrated right into the prayer screen. ($0.99) Unfortunately, not many developers have made an all-around great dreidel app. In fact, I could find only one, Aint Bubbie’s, that actually allows you to spin your iPhone to spin the dreidel. After testing with the kids, the most popular game was Dreidel HD. This app allows you to “spin” a virtual dreidel with a tap. The dreidel lands with one of four symbols face up, which decides how much (if any) of the pot the player gets, or whether he or she has to add to it. The animation, including half-eaten gelt (chocolate coins), kept them occupied for quite a while. Maybe it’s best they can’t spin the iPad to spin the dreidel. ($0.99) Whether you want an alternative to all the Christmas music playing on the radio, or some great tunes to fry latkes by, the Jewish Radio app has an extensive collection of Jewish and Israeli online radio stations. The scan function allows you to quickly scan like a car radio so you can find which station is playing “Rock of Ages.” For those running iOS 4.0, the music can play in the background. ($7.99) Instead of showing Read More