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Why do Synagogues use or not use them?

Bonus:

What are some of the companies that make these digital wall displays for synagogues?

How much do they cost?

Does anyone know where I can find info online about them?

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Moshe, Welcome to mi.yodeya, and thanks very much for the interesting question! I look forward to seeing you around. – Isaac Moses♦ Sep 2 '10 at 18:58
@Isaac - Thanks. It's good to see SE sites springing up. (Especially a jewish one.) Perhaps it makes sense to try to get this site nominated at Area 51 for SE 2. – Moshe Sep 2 '10 at 19:33
@Moshe, The transition to SE 2.0 is not that simple. See blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/05/migration-of-se-1-0-sites . Right now, we have a guarantee that we can run m.y as a SE 1.0 site until at least April '11. It seems that at some point before then, we may be offered the chance to apply to migrate to SE 2.0 if we have enough traffic. Area 51 would be to create a new site, which would not have our existing community or content. There are some proposals for related sites there already (search for Jewish at area51.stackexchange.com ). – Isaac Moses♦ Sep 2 '10 at 20:13
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5 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

The toll free number to get one is 1-877-J-Calendar

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Thanks for the number! – Moshe Sep 6 '10 at 20:15
Which company is that? – Moshe Sep 6 '10 at 20:16
These guys have what I was thinking of. It's good to be able to find that online. Googling the number found the site. – Moshe Sep 6 '10 at 21:00
beezeesystems.com/products-jcalendar.asp , in case anyone's wondering. – Isaac Moses♦ Sep 7 '10 at 1:53
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up vote 7 down vote

We have one of these in our Synagogue (based in the UK) and it was cheap and easy to set up. Here's some details on how we did it...

We have a large flat-screen TV (that can also operate as a computer monitor) on the wall. This was donated. On the other side of the wall is a regular, old Windows XP PC, with internet access. The PC runs internet explorer in full screen (kiosk mode) permanently looking at our own special website.

The website is built on Joomla, which is an open source content management system. The TV in the synagogue displays the front-end (public view) and we can use the administration view to edit the content from any internet connected computer.

We wrote some really simple Joomla components to display display static images (GIFs) and Flash Animations. When you upload each file to the system you can specify how long to display it for, dates for which it is valid etc.

We have ours in the foyer and it is primarily used to advertise events / announcements etc.

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Matt, Welcome to mi.yodeya, and thanks very much for giving us the benefit of your experience! We'd love to have you as a fully registered member, which you can accomplish by clicking register, above. – Isaac Moses♦ Sep 6 '10 at 15:14
How are Zmanim updated? Automatically, or manually? – Moshe Sep 6 '10 at 20:16
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up vote 5 down vote

While it's not like the one that I've seen in shuls, the cheapest way of doing it would probably be to buy a decent sized screen (20"+ should be great and costs around $150 now) and hook it up to an old computer running this program: http://www.kaluach.com/?page_id=147 (which costs $225). If you have someone with decent carpentry experience, you could make a coherent and presentable system for under $400. I'm sure that this would be much cheaper than the typical shul device.

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I saw that program. I'm not a fan of it. It looks way to clunky. – Moshe Sep 6 '10 at 20:15
You're forgetting the computer too. Add at least 300 to that. Plus extension cables to hide the computer somewhere. And a mount. And finish to hide the cable. – Moshe Jan 25 at 15:32
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up vote 3 down vote

I cannot think of any reason Shuls would not use them. [Unless they are a distraction?] Who said there are Shuls who don't use them? It's quite possible Shuls don't have them because of the cost. In every Shul I've seen them in, they were donated...

(I'm assuming you mean the displays that contain things like the date, parsha of the week, and selection of zmanim)

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Exactly those. Btw, great to see you here. Can you find out pricing and vendor contact information? – Moshe Sep 3 '10 at 12:37
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Well in some of those Shuls, there was a phone number on the device (or near the device). Try calling it and asking... – yydl Sep 3 '10 at 12:53
Please post a number here if you can. Or message me on twitter. Or gmail. Or... ;D – Moshe Sep 3 '10 at 15:33
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up vote 2 down vote

The Shtiblach Katamon shul in Jerusalem has the Shtibluach Electronic Luach for Synagogues. www.shtibluach.com.

It's windows-based, can be configured to display any number of davening schedules and zmanim, popup messages, daf yomi, parsha, etc.

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What does this cost? – Moshe Jan 25 at 14:49
Kesty, thanks for the recommendation and welcome to the site: I hope you stick around and enjoy it. – msh210♦ Jan 25 at 15:49
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