Hebrew Translation & Hebrew Interpreter Services

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Hebrew Translation & Hebrew Legal Translation Services

All Language Alliance, Inc. provides professional Hebrew translation services for legal, corporate, medical, historical and personal documents, including certified Hebrew to English translation and English to Hebrew translation. We assign experienced Hebrew translators and Hebrew interpreters for legal matters, court and deposition proceedings, business transactions, historical and genealogical research, and other matters requiring specialized Hebrew language expertise.

Incredibly, the Hebrew used today is still based on not only the same alphabet, but the very same words that are found in the Bible, from the 11th century BC. While for many centuries Hebrew was barely used in everyday life, it still survived as a written language and the language of Jewish prayer. The revival of Hebrew as an everyday language began around 1900, but once the State of Israel was established in 1948, the rush was on to invent the words that the new state and its citizens would need. As modern Hebrew developed, existing Hebrew roots were used and adapted extensively to create terminology for modern life, science and technology.  The result is that a relatively small number of 3-letter roots yield a dizzying number of variations. Add to that the fact that Hebrew has almost no vowels (cn u imgn wt tht wd be lk?), and no capitals, and you will understand the challenges facing a translator from Hebrew. Also, all the prepositions and articles – “to”, “in”, “at”, “the” – are merely letters attached to the front of a word, while possessives – “my”,” your”, “their” – are suffixes and do not constitute separate words. This is why a text of 1000 Hebrew words may yield 1300 or even 1500 English words.

Another challenging feature of Hebrew to English legal document translation—particularly contracts, briefs, court decisions and other legal documents—is the use of phrases and terminology derived from Aramaic—the language spoken by Jesus. This is because for centuries points of Jewish law were argued in Aramaic. So when a lawyer writing in Hebrew wants to say, “There is no difference” or, “All the more so in our case” he will usually use an Aramaic phrase.

Despite the weight of history, you will be surprised to find that Hebrew itself is a very informal and direct language. Unlike many other foreign languages, Hebrew does not have two forms of address, formal and informal. And Israeli society itself is so informal that first names, and even nicknames are used constantly. Even the CEO of a large corporation will be referred to by his nickname in company documents. When translating an English document into Hebrew or providing English to Hebrew transliteration, an experienced Hebrew translator must understand these linguistic and cultural conventions while accurately conveying the meaning, tone and intended use of the original document.

Rabbinic Hebrew Translation; Decipherment and Translation of Historical Hebrew Manuscripts

All Language Alliance, Inc. provides Rabbinic Hebrew translation services and expert decipherment, transcription and translation of historical Hebrew manuscripts and records in Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew (also known as Mishnaic Hebrew), Judeo-Aramaic, Jewish Aramaic and Judeo-Arabic (Jewish Arabic dialects written in Hebrew letters). Our specialists work with texts across a wide range of periods and genres, from ancient legal documents to private correspondence, letters, journals and diaries handwritten in a variety of historical Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, Judeo-Aramaic, Jewish Aramaic and Judeo-Arabic scripts, including:

Eastern Hebrew book hands

Eastern semi-cursive and extreme cursive scripts

Italian Hebrew book hands

Ashkenazic book hands, semi-cursive, and extreme cursive scripts

Sephardic book hands, semi-cursive, and extreme cursive scripts

Modern Ashkenazi and Israeli handwriting and print styles.

Whether a handwritten Hebrew document is legal, genealogical, religious or epistolary, we can assign translators and specialists trained in Rabbinic Hebrew, Jewish law and paleography to decipher, transcribe and translate challenging historical sources in Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, Judeo-Aramaic, Jewish Aramaic and Judeo-Arabic for today’s reader.

Hebrew to English Corporate Translation Services

Israel has a sophisticated economy and is a major developer and exporter of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, software and high-tech products. Many European, Asian and American companies have Israeli subsidiaries, so there are many intra-company documents requiring Hebrew to English corporate translation services. The country also imports a wide range of consumer goods, necessitating the creation of marketing materials and websites in Hebrew. Israelis are savvy consumers so marketing materials have to be well-translated to catch their attention.

Hebrew is Israel’s principal state language, while Arabic also has special legal status, and Russian and English are widely encountered in many professional and community settings. As a result, multilingual projects involving Israel may require translation into Hebrew together with Arabic, Russian, English or other languages. Because Israel is a nation of immigrants who bring their languages with them, words from other languages also find their way into Hebrew. A string of eight consonants, with only one vowel sound, may turn out to be “transporter” or “perspective” and your translator will have to figure that out from the context.

All Language Alliance, Inc. provides certified Hebrew to English and English to Hebrew document translation services for legal and personal documents, including contracts, court documents, eDiscovery materials, vital records and Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) translations. We can also assign Hebrew deposition interpreters for in-person and remote video depositions, Hebrew court interpreters for legal proceedings, and Hebrew medical interpreters when specialized medical interpreting is required.

If you are applying for dual citizenship in Germany or Austria, we can provide a Hebrew to German sworn translation prepared by a sworn German translator, as required by the relevant German or Austrian authorities.

Contact All Language Alliance, Inc. for certified Hebrew translation services, Hebrew interpreters, Hebrew historical document translation, or Apostilles for U.S. documents to be used in Israel.