Mission
Sh'elah is for looking something up: a halacha, a custom, a source, a zman. You get the answer and the primary text behind it, not only a summary. The library, the calendar and the AI assistant all work that way. They take you to the sources, in a language and format you can use, and they leave the final word to your own rabbi.
Who builds it
I build and maintain Sh'elah on my own. There is no company, no editorial board and no team of poskim behind it, and nobody reviews an AI answer before you see it. Treat what you read here like a well-sourced reference book, not like a rabbi.
How answers are sourced
The library takes its texts from Sefaria's open corpus: Tanakh, Talmud, halachic codes and commentaries. Hebcal and a zmanim library supply the calendar and the daily times, and a curated set of community customs (minhag) rounds it out. When you ask a question, the AI first searches Sefaria, the community customs and Halachipedia, and looks at Wikipedia only when the Jewish sources have nothing on the question. An answer is supposed to cite the sources it used.
For how the AI works in detail, and where it can go wrong, see the AI Disclosure.
Updates
Sh'elah is in active development. Features, sources and fixes go out when they are ready, not on a schedule. There is no uptime guarantee or support agreement; the Terms of Service say more about availability.
Always ask your rabbi
Nothing on Sh'elah is a halachic ruling, including what the AI writes. It is educational information meant to help you find and understand primary sources faster. If a question has real consequences, ask a rabbi who knows your situation and your community.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or a source that looks wrong? Write to me:
Contact: Akiva Yevdayev
Email: contact@shelah.org
The Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and AI Disclosure are the documents that govern your use of Sh'elah.