Hebrew-Georgian translation differs so much by direction that even one specialist has to work in two different modes. When translating from Hebrew into Georgian the main task is deciphering: the correct reading of names written without vowels, the correct order of figures and Latin insertions embedded in right-to-left text, dates of the Hebrew calendar, Israeli legal and administrative terminology, which often has no direct equivalent in Georgian. When translating from Georgian into Hebrew the task is building: Israeli official style, which is far shorter and more direct than the European one, the Hebrew spelling of names, which must match the passport and the Israeli identity card, and terminology that an Israeli authority perceives as a familiar document. On this page we explain both separately.
From Hebrew into Georgian
Vowels that are not in the text
Modern Hebrew does not mark vowels in ordinary text: nikud, the system of vowel points, appears only in children's books, poetry and dictionaries. For general vocabulary this is not a problem, the reader recognises the word, but for proper names it is a trap: a Hebrew record of four consonants can be read in several ways, and an unfamiliar Georgian or Russian surname written in Hebrew letters in an Israeli document cannot be unambiguously restored "back" into Georgian. So when translating from Hebrew into Georgian we establish names from the Latin record of the passport, the Latin field of the Israeli identity card or the Georgian birth certificate, and ask for a copy of the passport before translating. This is the only way for the name in the Georgian translation of an Israeli inheritance order or medical summary to be written in exactly the form it has in the Georgian papers.
Bidirectional text and figures
Hebrew text is written from right to left, but figures, dates, Latin abbreviations and English insertions from left to right. In a scanned or badly formatted document these two directions get mixed up: an identity number, an amount or a telephone number may read in reversed order, and the columns of a table may be laid out wrongly. The translator checks every numerical field separately, establishes logical consistency (the check digit of the identity number, the plausibility of the date, the sum of an amount) and clarifies doubtful places with the client. Israeli medical and court documents, where Hebrew text sits together with English terms, require particular attention in this respect.
Two calendars
Israeli official documents often write the date by two calendars: the Gregorian and the Hebrew, where the year is denoted by letters (תשפ"ו is the year 5786, which began in September 2025 and ends in September 2026). In the translation we write the Gregorian date and keep the Hebrew one in brackets, checking the correspondence: the Hebrew year "changes" relative to the Gregorian one in mid-autumn, and one and the same Gregorian year covers two Hebrew years. In rabbinical court documents the Hebrew date is often the only one, and its conversion is the translator's responsibility.
Israeli terminology in Georgian law
Israeli law is a mixed system, with layers of British common law, Ottoman and Jewish religious law, and its institutions often find no direct equivalent in the Georgian Civil Code. The inheritance order (tzav yerusha) performs the function of a Georgian certificate of inheritance, but is a registrar's document, not a court's; the enduring power of attorney (yipui koach mitmashech) does not exist in Georgian law; a rabbinical court divorce (get) is a religious act recognised by the state; a "choze" (contract) is written in the structure of the British tradition. We explain these terms in Georgian by descriptive translation and a one-time note, rather than replacing them with a Georgian concept, so that a Georgian notary or judge sees the real nature of the document.
From Georgian into Hebrew
Israeli official style
An Israeli administrative text is far shorter and more direct than a European one: a certificate is two or three sentences, formulas are minimal, courtesy constructions hardly exist. The extensive preamble of a Georgian certificate and phrases of the "for presentation where required" type must be translated into Hebrew so that the result is a natural, laconic document for an Israeli official, without losing the content. The terminology must be from Israeli legislation: the Georgian "extract from the register of entrepreneurs" is translated into Hebrew by analogy with the nesach of the rasham ha-chavarot, the "criminal record certificate" with teudat yosher, the "certificate of inheritance" with the logic of tzav yerusha, while the Georgian legal form (LLC) remains unchanged and the Hebrew equivalent (chevra ba'am, בע"מ) is added in brackets. Our Hebrew-speaking editor reads the text without the original and checks whether it sounds like a document written by an Israeli authority.
A Georgian name in Hebrew letters
When translating from Georgian into Hebrew the Hebrew spelling of names is a separate task, because the Hebrew form written without vowels will then remain in the Israeli system. If the person already has an Israeli identity card or aliyah documents, we use exactly the Hebrew form that is on them, so that the Israeli registry does not record two variants of the same person as two people. If not, we create the spelling by Israeli transcription practice, where Georgian vowels are often marked by the "matres lectionis" letters (alef, vav, yod) for readability, and add the Latin form in brackets. In the surnames of Georgian Jews that exist in Israel in an established Hebrew form (surnames ending in -shvili are written in Hebrew as standard), we keep exactly that established form.
Dates, amounts, personal numbers
In a Hebrew translation we write the date by the Gregorian calendar, in the Israeli format (15.9.2026), and add the Hebrew date only when the recipient is a rabbinical court. Amounts in Israel are in new shekels (₪, ILS), and we keep amounts in Georgian lari unchanged with a clear indication of the currency, without conversion. The Georgian personal number has 11 digits, the Israeli one 9, and both remain unchanged in the translation; in bidirectional Hebrew text we place the Georgian number so that it reads correctly from left to right, which requires technical formatting of the text.
What comes in which direction
From Hebrew into Georgian: tamtzit rishum, tzav yerusha and tzav kiyum tzavaa, an Israeli notary's power of attorney, Rabbinate marriage and divorce certificates, a change of name certificate, a medical summary from Israeli clinics, biopsy and tumour board reports, kupat cholim records, a diploma, a Registrar of Companies extract, Bituach Leumi certificates.
From Georgian into Hebrew: aliyah documents (birth and marriage certificates up to three generations, archive certificates, Soviet papers), a certificate of family status for the Rabbinate, a certificate of inheritance and a property extract for the Israeli registrar, a medical history for Israeli clinics, a diploma for Ministry of Health licensing, a power of attorney for an Israeli notary, contracts with an Israeli investor.
Into English for Israel: the Population and Immigration Authority, Bituach Leumi, universities, clinics and employers accept an English notarised translation, and we offer this wherever Hebrew is not mandatory.
The medical direction: a Georgian patient at an Israeli clinic and back
Treatment in Israeli clinics is for Georgian patients the most emotional and the most time-critical case of two-way translation. Before treatment the Georgian medical history, the biopsy report, MRI and CT descriptions and laboratory results are translated into English or Hebrew for the clinic's international department, which draws up a preliminary treatment plan and cost estimate on this basis; Israel's large clinics accept English, while for a specific specialist Hebrew is often more convenient. After treatment the Israeli medical summary (sikum machala), which is a blend of Hebrew and English, is translated into Georgian for the Georgian doctor, where the Israeli medical abbreviations are expanded, the English terms are translated with Georgian equivalents and the Hebrew notes, which often contain the recommendation for continuing treatment, are carried over in full. In urgent cases we deliver a working translation to the doctor within a few hours.
The aliyah direction: documents of three generations
Repatriation under the Law of Return requires evidence of Jewish origin up to three generations, and in the families of Georgian Jews this means the grandparents' Soviet birth certificates with the nationality line, the parents' marriage records, archive certificates, sometimes synagogue or community records. These documents are in Georgian and Russian at the same time, often handwritten, and translating them into Hebrew or English requires particular care: every field of the form, the text of the seal, handwritten entries, corrections. The Israeli consul builds the family chain from these documents, and the consistency of names between generations in the translation (the same grandmother must be written the same way in three documents) is decisive. Our translators, some of whom are themselves from the community of Georgian Jews, know the specifics of these documents from the inside.
The business direction: an Israeli investor and a Georgian company
Israeli companies operate in Georgia in real estate, agricultural technology, tourism and software, and their documents move in both directions: the Registrar of Companies extract, the articles of association (takanon) and directors' resolutions into Georgian for the Public Registry and the bank, the extract from the Georgian register of entrepreneurs, the articles of association and financial statements into Hebrew for the Israeli partner and the Israel Tax Authority. An Israeli contract is written in the structure of the British tradition, with extensive definitions and detailed liability clauses, and in a bilingual version the terms must be defined identically in both languages, the numbering of clauses synchronised, and a clause on which version prevails in the event of a dispute is essential; the formatting of a bidirectional two-column document is a separate technical task, which we perform.
Russian as an intermediate language: why not
In many families of Georgian Jews Russian is a language understood in both countries, and we are often asked to "translate the Hebrew document from Russian", because a relative living in Israel has already translated it into Russian. This route does not work for an official document: Israeli legal terms in a Russian intermediate version are often replaced by Soviet terms (tzav yerusha becomes a "certificate of inheritance", although it is a registrar's order), the Hebrew date is lost, the form of names changes twice, and a Georgian notary requires certification on a translation done from Hebrew, not from Russian. We translate directly in both directions; a Russian version, if it exists, serves us only for context.
Localisation and marketing for the Israeli market
The flow of Israeli tourists to Georgia calls for a Hebrew version of the websites and materials of Georgian hotels, tourism companies, restaurants and real estate developers. This is localisation, where Israeli marketing style, direct, short, informal and often humorous, differs from a Georgian text, while technically the website requires a right-to-left layout, in which menus, buttons and tables are mirrored. Indicating kosher food, Shabbat services and the calendar of Jewish holidays is often decisive for an Israeli consumer, and we advise the client on this during localisation. In the opposite direction the instructions, applications and catalogues of Israeli technological and agricultural products are translated into Georgian.
Notarisation in both directions
A translation done from Hebrew into Georgian is certified by a Georgian notary and is valid at any authority in Georgia if the Israeli original has the apostille of the right authority. A translation done from Georgian into Hebrew is also certified by a Georgian notary, and in Israel its force depends on the apostille of the House of Justice; Israeli authorities recognise such a translation as one notarised abroad, while rabbinical courts often require an Israeli notary's certification, which we help to organise. An English translation certified with the agency's seal is sufficient for most clinics, universities and companies.
The consular direction: embassies in Tbilisi and Tel Aviv
The Israeli embassy in Tbilisi and the Georgian embassy in Tel Aviv are the two points where two-way translation is needed daily. At the embassy in Tbilisi aliyah applications and the consular cases of Israeli citizens are accompanied by a Hebrew or English translation of Georgian documents; at the embassy in Tel Aviv a Georgian living in Israel or a Georgian Jew with dual citizenship renews a passport, registers a child's birth or certifies a power of attorney, and the Israeli certificates must be translated into Georgian, with the Georgian form of the child's name agreed, which must be established unambiguously from the Hebrew form written without vowels. These translations are often prepared with us, apostilled and sent by courier to Israel, or, conversely, an Israeli document comes as a scan and the paper version returns before the embassy visit.
Machine translation and the terminology base
Online systems work in the Hebrew-Georgian pair via English and cannot cope with the specific problems of Hebrew: they misread names written without vowels, mix up bidirectional figures, cannot process Hebrew dates, and replace Israeli legal terms with English approximations. We do not use machine translation on documents. For every regular client, especially families whose documents move between the two countries over the years, we maintain a two-way terminology base: every form of every family member's name (Georgian, Latin, Hebrew, old and new surname), addresses, institutions. This base ensures that the grandmother's name is written the same way in the aliyah document, the inheritance order and the medical summary.
Quality control and deadlines
A translation done from Hebrew into Georgian is checked by an editor for accuracy: the forms of names against the passport, bidirectional figures, dates in both calendars, the explanations of terms. A translation done from Georgian into Hebrew is read by a Hebrew-speaking editor without the original, who checks the style, the Hebrew spelling of names and the terminology. A standard one-page document in both directions is ready in one working day, by express in 1-2 hours; a medical history or a package of Soviet documents requires 1-3 days. Notarisation and apostille in both directions are organised online, for a client in Israel by international courier, and a confidentiality agreement applies to every order.
Frequently asked questions
In a Hebrew document my grandfather's surname is written so that it can be read in three ways. How do you establish it?
From the Georgian birth certificate, the passport or the Latin field of the Israeli identity card. A Hebrew form written without vowels cannot be restored unambiguously, so before translating we ask for copies of these documents and never "guess" a name.
How is a Georgian name written in Hebrew?
If you already have Israeli documents, in exactly the form that is on them. If not, by Israeli transcription practice, using alef, vav and yod for readability of the vowels, with the Latin form in brackets. The established surnames of Georgian Jews we write in their established Hebrew form.
An Israeli certificate contains two sentences, a Georgian one a whole page. Is that normal?
Yes, Israeli official style is far shorter and more direct than the European one. When translating into Hebrew we fit the content of a Georgian certificate into the laconic Israeli form, and when translating into Georgian the short Israeli text is expanded in Georgian bureaucratic style.
Where is translation into English enough for Israel?
For the Population and Immigration Authority, Bituach Leumi, most universities, clinics and employers. The rabbinical and state courts, the inheritance registrar and some notaries require Hebrew. If one document goes to two authorities, we recommend Hebrew.
I have the English part of an Israeli medical summary translated. Is the Hebrew part essential?
Yes, the Hebrew part often contains recommendations for continuing treatment, dose changes and the doctor's notes, which are not visible in the English terminological part. For a Georgian doctor both parts are translated together.
Does the same translator work in both directions?
Often yes, especially from the community of Georgian Jews, for whom both languages are native. But a translation done from Georgian into Hebrew is read by a Hebrew-speaking editor, and one done from Hebrew into Georgian by a Georgian editor, and this double control catches the different mistakes of each direction.