Left: Cliqk Founder Mark Hernandez. Right: Lead Smart Shabbos Developer Rabbi Shmary Gurary with his daughter.

App Helps Jewish Homes Go High Tech for Shabbos

Forbes magazine yesterday profiled a smartphone app, Smart Shabbos, which helps Jewish homes go high tech enabling the proper observance of Shabbos in utmost comfort. Forbes also profiled the app’s lead developer, born and raised Crown Heights native Rabbi Shmary Gurary.

From Forbes:

Every Friday evening as New Yorkers wrap up another work week, tiny pockets of town are abuzz with last-minute preparations. The city’s Orthodox Jews are getting ready to go dark.

Roughly 500,000 Jewish people around New York prepare for sundown with a flurry of activity: there are light timers to be set, hot plates to turn on, and oh, one more thing: don’t forget to unscrew the light bulb in the refrigerator. Because once the sun begins to set on Friday, nothing can be turned off or on, no work can be done here for a full day, until the first stars appear in the Saturday night sky. That means even something as everyday as flipping a light switch is temporarily off-limits.

This is Shabbos, one full day of rest, and it’s not just for people, it’s for their electronics, too.

But a few Orthodox Jewish homes, tucked away in an inner pocket of Brooklyn, are starting to make their own Friday evening routines surprisingly high-tech. Because their Shabbos is going “smart,” as the Orthodox parishioners install connected homes: pre-programmable smart lights, smart outlets and smart thermostats.

Rabbi Shmary Gurary is leading the charge. Gurary, a short man with a characteristically thick Orthodox beard, lives with his wife and three little girls. Gurary says his family often celebrates their Shabbos with guests who join his family around their long, wooden table for a meal. Having smart tech installed means now there’s just a little less for them to do around the house on Friday afternoons. In the shuffle to prepare meals and light candles, with one click in a smartphone app, he’s got their Shabbos lights queued up and the thermostat set.

Click here to continue reading at Forbes.

2 Comments

  • Ed S

    Cliqk is an amazing comapny. Did first class job for my home at very fair pride! Their system as changed our life for shabbos.

  • just curious... food warmers?

    turning the warmers off on shabbos after serving the food is ok, but what about turning them back on during a 2 or 3-day occasion: wouldn’t that be nolad?
    just curious…