Scheduling
The step where a template becomes a dated service on your calendar.
Features
How iLeyn Works: A Guide to Coordinating Synagogue Services
How iLeyn Works: A Guide to Coordinating Synagogue Services
iLeyn is how a synagogue plans its services and coordinates who reads and leads what. The work follows one repeating lifecycle — build a reusable service template, schedule a dated service from it, get readings and honors assigned, publish the service to members, and print bima sheets for the day — while roles decide who is allowed to do each step. Getting oriented to that flow first makes every other feature easier to learn.
The service lifecycle, start to finish
Every service in iLeyn moves through the same stages. First you create a service template — a reusable structure that holds the readings, davening sections, service roles, and honors a given worship format uses. You schedule a dated service from that template, either as a one-off or as part of a recurring series that places drafts on your calendar automatically. Readers then get attached to the Torah, Haftarah, prayers, honors, and roles, either assigned by a coordinator or claimed by members themselves. When the plan is ready, you publish the service so members can see it, and you can print bima sheets for the gabbai to carry on the day. Reports then look back across all of it to show who has read what.
Templates and the Jewish calendar do the repetitive work
You are not meant to rebuild a service by hand each week. A service template captures the parts that stay the same, and a recurring schedule reuses it on every matching date. For Torah services, iLeyn can populate the correct weekly readings from the Jewish calendar according to your organization's calendar convention and reading cycle, so a Shabbat-morning series arrives already carrying the right parsha. Whatever is generated stays a draft you can adjust before it goes out.
How readings actually get staffed
A scheduled service is just a plan until people are attached to its parts. iLeyn supports two ways members take on a reading or honor: a coordinator assigns them directly, or members take open items themselves. Depending on their setting, a member can either claim an open item outright or submit a request an administrator approves. Eligibility can be limited by designation, so specialized honors only reach qualified members while everyday readings stay open to sign-ups.
Who does what: roles and permissions
iLeyn gives each person the right level of access. People in your organization are either staff — administrators, coordinators, and tutors who help run the organization and can also leyn — or external leyners, who read in your services but are not part of your staff. Among staff, Administrators have full control, managing members, organization settings, templates, and billing, while Service Coordinator is a delegated permission that lets a trusted member create, edit, and staff services without touching the rest of the organization. Both staff and external leyners can be assigned readings or, when allowed, claim or request them. Matching people to roles keeps coordination shared without handing the whole organization to everyone.
Where to start
You do not have to set everything up at once. A good first pass is to confirm your calendar settings, build one service template for a format you run often, schedule a single service from it, make one assignment, and publish it. Once you have walked one service through the whole lifecycle, recurring schedules, bima sheets, and reports all make sense as extensions of the same loop.
Frequently asked questions
What is the basic flow of using iLeyn?
Create a reusable service template, schedule a dated service from it, get its readings and honors assigned or claimed, publish it to members, and print bima sheets for the day. Reports then summarize who read what.
Do I have to build every service from scratch?
No. Service templates hold the repeated structure, recurring schedules reuse them automatically, and the Jewish calendar can fill in the weekly Torah and Haftarah readings, so you review and adjust rather than rebuild.
Who can create and manage services?
Administrators can do everything, and you can grant the Service Coordinator permission so a trusted member manages services and assignments without full administrator access. Everyone else — other staff and external leyners — view published services, prepare their readings, and can be assigned or claim open parts.
How do members end up on a reading?
A coordinator can assign them directly, or members can take open items themselves — claiming an item outright or requesting it for approval, depending on how each member is set up.
Where should a brand-new administrator begin?
Confirm your calendar settings, build one service template, schedule and publish a single service from it, and make one assignment. Walking one service through the full lifecycle makes the rest of iLeyn easy to follow.
Works well with
Claiming and requesting
How readers take on readings and honors once a service is scheduled.
Member roles
Sets who can manage services and who simply prepares their assignments.
Bima sheets
The printed sheet for the day, generated from a service's assignments.
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