# Selichot, Simanim & Cards — Sephardic & Ashkenaz, Vows

> Sephardic & Ashkenaz, Vows (iPhone/iPad app by Yechiel Ben David.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/selichot-simanim-and-cards/id6801909106 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Yechiel Ben David](https://appshunter.io/developer/1863307655)
- Category: Reference, Lifestyle
- Price: Free
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 7 MB
- Languages: American English, Hebrew
- Released: 2026-08-20
- Data updated: 2026-09-23
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/selichot-simanim-and-cards/id6801909106/reviews.md

## What is Selichot, Simanim & Cards?

Selichot Pure Intention reads the Hebrew date and opens on the Selichot said today — in two rites: Sephardic (Edot HaMizrach) and Ashkenaz.

It is the only app that carries both rites in full. A home or a shul where both are said needs one app, not two.

It carries the Kapparot order for Erev Yom Kippur in both rites, the Rosh Hashana simanim — the order of the festive night in both rites, with a preparation checklist and a sheet to print — and a Shana Tova card: ten designed templates, write a blessing and share it on WhatsApp.

THE DAY IS COMPUTED, NOT PICKED FROM A LIST
In the Sephardic rite one order serves all of Elul and the Ten Days of Repentance, and the button hides itself on Shabbat, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, when Selichot are not said. In the Ashkenaz rite the app works out the actual Selichot day:
• The start on Motzaei Shabbat before Rosh Hashana — a week earlier when Rosh Hashana falls on Monday or Tuesday
• Days one through seven
• Erev Rosh Hashana
• The Fast of Gedaliah, including its deferral when it falls on Shabbat
• Each of the Ten Days of Repentance, by weekday
• Erev Yom Kippur

BOTH RITES IN FULL
Sephardic — the complete order after the Torat Emet edition. Ashkenaz (Lita) — all 14 day-orders as separate texts, from the Wikisource edition. You can also browse any day freely, not only today's.

HATARAT NEDARIM IN BOTH RITES
The Ashkenaz order, and the Sephardic order including the annulment of curses after the Jerusalem custom — the Erev Rosh Hashana text, without hunting for it on a phone in shul.

KAPPAROT IN BOTH RITES
The Erev Yom Kippur order, and the two rites say different words in it: Ashkenaz says two sets of verses first and then "this rooster goes to its death"; Edot HaMizrach says no verses at all, and its rooster "goes to slaughter" — so Kaf HaChaim, siman 605. The person forms and the money wording are there too.

ROSH HASHANA SIMANIM
The order of the festive night in both rites — dates, rubia, leek, beet, gourd, pomegranate, apple in honey, carrot and the head of a fish or a lamb — each siman with its blessing, the vocalized Yehi Ratzon and a note on the custom and where it comes from. The Sephardic and Ashkenaz orders differ in what is eaten, in what is said and in the order it is said, and each is carried as it is. With it comes a preparation checklist, a checkbox for every item so you know in the shop what is still missing, and a designed sheet for the table — to share as an image, or as a PDF to print.

SHANA TOVA GREETING CARDS
Ten designed templates with gouache illustrations: Classic, Pomegranates, Apple & Honey, Starry Night, Jerusalem, Challah & Honey, Shofar, Royal Tekhelet, Olive Branch and Modern. Type a recipient, a blessing and your name; the card is rendered on your device and sent through the system share sheet, so it lands in WhatsApp exactly like a photo. The card has its own language switch, so an English interface can send a Hebrew card and the reverse.

SET LIKE A SIDDUR
Vocalized text in FrankRuehlCLM, justified to both edges, gold headings on cream paper, full right-to-left Hebrew. A table of contents opens from the reader and jumps to any piyut — Peticha, Ashrei, the Thirteen Attributes, Selicha alef, Ashamnu, Avinu Malkenu.

HEBREW OR ENGLISH
The interface language follows your device and can be changed. The prayer text is always Hebrew, and so are the piyut names — these are names of prayers, not navigation. In English mode the translation appears beneath the Hebrew.

FREE, NO ADS, NO ACCOUNT
The app collects nothing, asks for no permissions and makes no network calls. The texts, the Hebrew calendar, the fonts and the artwork are bundled inside it — it works on a plane, in a shul basement, and abroad with no data.

TEXT SOURCES
Edot HaMizrach Selichot — Torat Emet edition, public domain. Ashkenaz Selichot, Hatarat Nedarim and the Kapparot order — Hebrew Wikisource, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Full attribution appears in the app under "Sources".


## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.6 — 2026-09-19

A Kapparot order for Erev Yom Kippur has been added, in both rites — a third button on the home screen, after Hatarat Nedarim.

The two rites say different words, so each is written out separately rather than as one text with a line swapped. Ashkenaz first says the verses "Bnei adam yoshvei choshech" (Psalms 107) and "Im yesh alav malach" (Job 33), then "this rooster goes to its death, and I shall enter and go to a good, long life and to peace". Edot HaMizrach says no verses at all, and its wording is "this rooster goes to slaughter, and shall enter, I, to a good life and to peace".

Both differences are stated in Kaf HaChaim, Orach Chayim 605:8, which also gives the reason for the word order: so that the sentence cannot be heard as sending the speaker after the bird.

Both rites carry the masculine, feminine, plural, on-behalf-of-another and pregnant-woman forms, and the wording for kapparot with money.

The text comes from Hebrew Wikisource under CC BY-SA 4.0 — Ashkenaz from the "Seder Kapparot" page of the Nusach Ashkenaz siddur, Edot HaMizrach from the Mordechai Shaliach Tzibur siddur, which follows the Ben Ish Chai. The full attribution, including the corrections made to the source, is in the app under "Sources".

### 1.5 — 2026-09-14

The Rosh Hashana Simanim order has been rebuilt in both rites, from the printed Dirshu "Seder Leil Rosh Hashana" sheets — one for Ashkenaz, one for Edot HaMizrach. The order, the wording and the names of the simanim are now as they are printed there.

What that changes: in Edot HaMizrach the order is dates, rubia, leek, beet, gourd, pomegranate, apple in honey and the head of a fish or a lamb; in Ashkenaz — dates, pomegranate, apple in honey, rubia, gourd, leek, beet, carrot and the head. Both were previously shown in a different order.

Carrot has been added to the Ashkenaz seder, with "that You decree good decrees upon us" and an illustration of its own.

The blessings now sit on the siman they are actually said over — Borei Pri HaEtz on the date that opens the seder, Borei Pri HaAdama on the rubia — instead of repeating on every card.

Every siman that is not on the sheet now carries a note saying where it comes from, with its source.

And two fixes in the Selichot: an editing mark that was showing at the end of Hatarat Nedarim, and the "Selichot begin on…" line, which on a Shabbat mid-season was naming a date already past.

### 1.4 — 2026-09-11

The app is now called "Days of Awe" on your device — the name that covers the whole season, from Elul to Yom Kippur. Same app, same place on your screen.

Rosh Hashana Simanim — the order of the festive night, in both rites.

Each siman now has a place of its own: the date, the pomegranate, apple in honey, rubia, gourd, leek, beet and the head — each with its blessing, the vocalized Yehi Ratzon, and a short note on the custom. The Sephardic and Ashkenaz orders differ in what is eaten, in what is said and in the order it is said, so the app carries each of them as it is, rather than one list with footnotes.

A preparation checklist: a checkbox for every item, so you know in the shop what is still missing. You can send the list to whoever is doing the shopping.

And a designed sheet for the table — share it as an image, or take the PDF to print and keep. The sheet is set in black on white, so it comes out legible on an ordinary printer too.

And on your home screen: the icon now carries a pomegranate and a greeting card alongside the shofar — same app, same place.

Also: the gold in the greeting-card titles is even now, without the band that lightened the middle of the letters.

Nothing changed in the Selichot texts, the rites or Hatarat Nedarim.

### 1.3 — 2026-09-08

The card stays on screen while you write on it.

Until now it sat at the head of one long scroll, so reaching for the message field carried it away — the one thing you wanted to see. It is pinned above the fields now, and shrinks a little when the keyboard opens, so even the last line is written in front of the card rather than in place of it.

New: a button to share the app with a friend, at the foot of the home screen. The message carries both links — iPhone and Android — so it works for your friend whichever phone they hold.

Nothing changed in the texts, the rites, Hatarat Nedarim or the card designs.

### 1.2 — 2026-09-04

A fix for the Ten Days of Repentance. Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat this year, and the four orders — the 2nd through 5th of the Ten Days — were being picked by weekday instead of in sequence, so each came up on a day that was not its own, and Friday 7 Tishrei showed no order at all. They now follow in sequence, as the printed edition has them, and Friday is covered.

The app also opens from an external link now, straight onto today's Selichot.

Nothing changed in the texts, the rites, Hatarat Nedarim or the greeting cards.

And at the foot of the card screen there is now a link to Igeret, our card app for every occasion in the Hebrew year.

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All apps by Yechiel Ben David: https://appshunter.io/developer/1863307655

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-23.*