Help & Guide

Asking a good sh'elah

A specific question gets a more useful answer. Describe the situation as well as the topic: "Can I turn on a light with a timer before Shabbat starts?" finds better sources than "Shabbat rules". If the answer depends on where you live or which community's customs you follow, say so. You can also pick a community in the conversation's ⋮ menu.

Answer modes

Pick one of four modes in the conversation's ⋮ menu, under AI mode:

• Balanced: the default. A short, direct answer to an everyday question, and more depth only when the answer turns on a dispute.
• Practical First: the direct answer, then the steps to take.
• Deep Sources: a fuller explanation with the background, the main positions and a synthesis, together with the sources.
• Strict Sources: only claims the sources support, explained in full paragraphs.

Community

Many practical questions have different answers in different communities, such as Ashkenazi, Sephardic and Yemenite. Choosing a community tells Sh'elah whose customs to put first. It does not hide other views, and the AI is told to say when a practice is genuinely disputed.

Reader features

• Shul Mode: a larger display for reading along during services, with optional auto-scroll. Turn it on in the reader's settings.
• Bookmarks: save a passage or an answer for later. If you are signed in, they follow you to other devices.
• Export: download a chapter as a Word, PDF or text file for offline study or printing.
• Cited sources: the sources listed under an AI answer link to the text in the reader, where Sh'elah can match them.

Looking for a term you don't know? Try the Glossary.

Calendar and zmanim

The calendar shows the Hebrew date, the week's parasha, holidays and the day's zmanim for your location. Sh'elah can detect your location, or you can enter it yourself if you would rather not share it. Candle-lighting and havdalah times are on the calendar for Shabbat and holidays.