One sky, all of us
Ner Tamid is a single shared sky for the whole Jewish world, holding three kinds of light: memory flames kept by real families on the true Hebrew-calendar anniversary of a passing, simcha stars lit permanently for life's joys — a birth, a bar or bat mitzvah, a wedding — and the Shabbat wave, real candle-lighting rolling westward around the planet every Friday. Zoom out, and it's an entire people's memory and joy, tonight. Zoom in, and it's one name, one light.
Memory flames
Every flame is a real person, remembered by a real family. Each one lights on the actual Hebrew-calendar anniversary of that person's passing, sunset to sunset, exactly when that family's candle burns on the counter at home. Between yahrzeits, a flame rests as a faint ember — waiting, not gone. Lighting a flame, tending it, the yearly reminder, and inviting keepers across generations are all free, always. A Chai Dedication ($18 — chai, meaning "life") gives a flame a visible halo and a dedication line, with a stated portion going to Jewish community organizations; a Constellation Keepsake ($9) is a printable certificate of the sky on their night.
Simcha stars
Alongside the memorial flames, families light permanent stars for simchas — a birth, a bris, a bar or bat mitzvah, a wedding, an aliyah, an anniversary. Stars never go out. "Light them a star" makes it a gift: the honoree gets an email the moment it's actually lit, not a receipt beforehand. Chai Star ($18), Double Chai ($36, adds a printable certificate), and Constellation ($180, up to 10 family stars for one simcha, one certificate) — the same stated tzedakah split as the flame dedications.
The Shabbat wave
Every Friday, as the sun sets around the planet, candle-lighting rolls westward — Jerusalem first, then Europe, then the Americas, then the Pacific. It has happened every week for three thousand years. The wave renders it live: real hebcal.com candle-lighting times at city resolution, no politics, no map borders — just light and time, and the fact that your city's moment is part of something that started near Jerusalem a few hours earlier.
Why the flames exist
Grief is often the loneliest hour. Ner Tamid doesn't try to fix that — it makes something true visible: on any given night, you are never the only one lighting a candle. Strangers, but your people.
What it isn't
This is not a fear product, and it never markets on threat or danger. It's belonging, continuity, celebration, and memory — the same spirit as the rest of the Jewish Family Toolkit. Names are entered only by families: never scraped, never imported, never auto-generated.
Who it's for
Orthodox to secular, Ashkenazi to Sephardi and Mizrahi, intermarried families, Jews by choice, grandparents and toddlers. Hebrew is always shown with transliteration and translation — nothing here requires prior knowledge, and nothing here shames anyone for not having it.
Dignity, always
Every flame has a report link. Public text is filtered before it appears, and anything flagged waits for a human before it's shown. Families can keep a flame fully private — it still counts in the nightly number, never in the public field. There are no streaks, no badges, and no engagement mechanics built on grief — just one reminder email, seven days before, because remembering the date is the thing everyone fears getting wrong.