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On the road during Chanukah and feel the need to light candles? There’s an app for that.

Lost all your dreidels and want to play a quick game? There’s an app for that.

Need to know how many days you have left to buy Chanukah presents? There’s an app for that, too.

Chanukah-themed applications have been a presence in Apple’s iTunes App Store almost since its inception, and with the holiday beginning Dec. 11, a number of new applications have cropped up to help iPhone and iPod Touch users meld technology with the ancient holiday.

When Apple debuted the App Store in July 2008, it contained 500 applications (known as apps) that could be downloaded and installed on an iPhone or iPod Touch. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had just surpassed 100,000 apps and 2 billion downloads.

Jewish developers have pounced on the ability to bring a little Yiddishkeit to the handheld devices, and today there are dozens of Jewish-themed apps available at the store.

Some of them are obvious: Siddur, iTalmud, Hebrew Date. An app called Mikvah shows users the nearest mikvah and provides a checklist of pre-mikvah preparations. The Los Angeles–based Kabbalah Centre International sells the Dialing God app, featuring kabbalistic meditations and blessings.

Then there are the more offbeat apps. ParveOMeter counts down the waiting time between eating dairy and meat; iCharity allows one to deposit virtual coins into a virtual tzedakah box; and if you’re wondering whether mahi-mahi is OK to eat, download Kosher Fish.

And then there are the holiday-based apps: Megillas Esther for Purim, several Omer-counting apps and numerous Passover apps, including haggadahs and a game called Find the Matzah.

But when it comes to Jewish holidays, Chanukah has a clear monopoly on the App Store. From iDreidel to DaysTo Hanukkah to Mobile Menorah, there’s an app for everything you might need for the holiday — except maybe one that makes latkes.

“All the kids in my family are always grabbing at my iPhone, so I figured they should play a Jewish game,” said Jeff Howard, creator of a Chanukah-themed app called Super Dreidel.

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/40647/eight-nights-of-apps-iphone-programs-put-chanukah-in-the-palm-of-your-hand/