Information concerning TeX and LaTeX in Hebrew.

The regular TeX (and LaTeX) typesets text from left to right, so they are not suitable for typesetting Hebrew texts.

A new version of TeX, namely, TeX-XeT (sometimes referred to as XeT) has been created. This TeX can typeset both from left to right and from right to left, so it is suitable for Hebrew typesetting. The task has been done by incorporationg into TeX's source two additional reversing commands, marked as 250 and 251.

Hebrew fonts are also available, so that working in Hebrew with TeX (and LaTeX) is now possible.

It is important to note that, within the file, words should be typed in their "natural" order, no matter if the text is in Hebrew or not; that is to say, if you display the raw input file on screen, Hebrew lines as well as seperate Hebrew words will appear "reversed".

If you have a working TeX, how can you know if it is the Hebrew version? If, as a response to activating TeX, you get the message "This is TeX-XeT ...." you know you are working with the Hebrew TeX.

For UNIX, the last version of the Hebrew TeX is 3.14. This TeX's version outputs a dvi file which is not standard, and should either be handled by specially modified dvi drivers which know how to handle the reversing commands, or be changed into a standard dvi file via the utility ivd2dvi . This utility creates a standard dvi file out of the nonstandard dvi file created by the Hebrew TeX.

NEW --- A new version of TeX, namely, TeX--XeT, has just been announced. In this version, a standard dvi file is created and there is no more need for ivd2dvi. For details, type

For explanation concerning installation of TeX-XeT on UNIX, type

For DOS PC, there is a program called XeT (short for SBXeT) which typesets Hebrew and outputs an IVD (DVI reversed) file. This file should be given as input to IVD2DVI, which outputs a standard DVI file.

For explanation concerning installation on PC, type

A new TeX-XeT (TeX--XeT) for the PC which outputs a standard dvi file will soon be released.

There is also a TeX-XeT for Macintosh, called DirectTeX. for more explanation concerning Hebrew TeX on Mac, type

More information is available here about:

  • Various representations of Hebrew characters in TeX
  • Hebrew fonts available
  • Usage of Hebrew with TeX
  • Usage of Hebrew with LaTeX
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