If Moshe had an iPhone or Android during the exodus from Mitzraim, perhaps he would have used the Waze App and delivered the Jewish people to the Land of Milk and Honey a little sooner.
Just in case you need help perfecting your seder, finding last-minute recipes, looking something up in the Haggadah or keeping better track of Sefiras HaOmer, as the commercial once said, “there’s an App for that (and that and pretty much everything Pesach).”
The following is a short guide that any of you, our readers, could find via search engine or recommendations from friends. There are many others one could add to this list.
Arguably the most complete Passover App out there is the Chabad.org Passover Assistant, which can be found through a search engine, Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store for iOS and Android devices. It can be downloaded for free.
This App provides a Passover meal planner, shopping list, “Mah Nishtanah” trainer, seder preparation tips and even checklists to keep track of one’s progress.
Another useful App is Passover – The Ten Plagues, a story for children with colorful illustrations. The App requires iOS 4.3 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
One can even find, in the Apple Store, an app called Passover – The Ten Plagues Lite, which teaches the Hebrew names of the plagues along with funny sounds effects. There are even “read to me” or “read it myself” options to experience the story with or without narration.
The Jerusalem Post provides additional information in an article entitled “Appaholic: Top Five Passover Apps.”
One App is called Food Street Passover, which provides holiday recipes. Another is the Sefiros App, which emphasizes the spiritual renewal and personal growth we should feel as we count the Omer. The extraordinary App is called No Chametz, which helps you through the selling, searching and destroying of all forbidden foods. It comes along with appropriate halachot, blessings that must be recited as well as the date and deadlines by which all of these duties must be completed.
“The App helps you search for chametz, by giving you the halacha, brachas zmanim, a checklist builder and a flashlight. It also helps you destroy the chametz with the Bittul and Bi’ur with halacha, brachot and zmanim for that process. Finally, it helps you sell, Mechirah, the chametz with zmnaim, halacha and a link to sell it to an organization.”
Another featured App is iMah Nishtanah, which teaches the meaning behind the Hebrew through fun and interaction.
The Chicago Rabbinical Council or cRc certification provides in its App a Passover shopping list as a well as a list of kosher agencies and certificates worldwide.
At Ultimate Omer 2, “The Sefira app you can count on,” users can find the appropriate brachot as well as keep track of the 49 days leading to Shavuos. It is for use on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
The Orthodox Union or OU Kosher App for Android includes newly certified kosher-for-Passover products as well as top Passover questions and answers. An example: “Can jarred horseradish be used as maror at the seders?” Or, “Does bottled water need to have a kosher-for-Passover certification?”
The Star-K also offers a complete guide on its App for kosher-for-Passover products ranging from medicines to canned foods.
By Phil Jacobs
