Walking through the historical artifacts and documents that explore the evolution of American identity, visitors to the National Museum of American History may hear conversations in a language spoken by less than 0.1% of the U.S. population — Hebrew.
Gila Efrati, a native Israeli living in Silver Spring, leads Hebrew practice sessions at the Museum as part of her business, Mifgashim B’ivrit, which focuses on conversational Hebrew learning.
“The self-touring is not teaching about the history — it’s an opportunity to use the exhibits to speak in Hebrew,” Efrati said.
Efrati has offered these small-group sessions for two years, On Dec. 28 and 29, she again distributed educational packets to local participants to encourage them to work on Hebrew vocabulary and engage in “meaningful conversation” with fellow Hebrew learners.
“I can use the treasures that we have here in Washington, and people can very easily get there by public transportation, so people from all [over] the DMV can come and join,” Efrati said.
Participants first gathered at the museum’s food court and kicked off the hour-and-15-minute session by translating sentences they saw on the nearby entrance signs. “I immediately see what is the level of each person,” Efrati explained. “What do they know already to translate into Hebrew?”
The group visited renowned chef Julia Child’s kitchen in the food exhibition on the museum’s ground floor.
“I ask them, ‘What do you see?’ And they are saying either single words because that’s their level, or they say short sentences,” Efrati said. “And I’m always challenging them: ‘Which things are next to each other? Which colors do you see here? Which item do you have in your own kitchen?’ I’m challenging them to use as much as they can.”
She divides participants into pairs to share about a specific meal they had and the details of that experience.
Efrati welcomes people of all levels of Hebrew learning. Different sessions of the day are also geared towards more experienced Hebrew learners or beginners.
The group then walks through the “America on the Move” exhibit, which showcases how transportation from 1876 to 1999 has shaped U.S. identity. Efrati’s learning materials teach participants the Hebrew words for motorcycle, taxi, motor vehicle, ship, boat and “all kinds of vehicles.”
Sitting in a 1959 Chicago “L” mass transit car on display, participants make observations about the train. “They say whatever they can, and then they share an experience that they have from their life taking the Metro or [other] public transportation,” Efrati said.
After that, Efrati lets participants choose their next endeavor. A fan favorite, she said, is the almost 100-year-old First Ladies Collection, featuring more than two dozen gowns worn by U.S. presidents’ wives.
“I let them go around and choose one of the dresses that they like the most, … and once we convene together, we go [around] to each dress and they tell us how the dress looks like we cannot see [it], and why they like it,” Efrati said.
In answering these questions, participants listen to one another and use the information they hear to build their own sentences.
“Going out and talking about the exhibits in the museum, this is real life,” Efrati said. “This [is] what Hebrew teachers call authentic learning.”
Efrati is a Hebrew teacher herself, at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School and Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center. She also teaches and coordinates the elementary school Israel program at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School in Washington.
“I like to help people either maintain, review [or] elaborate their Hebrew skills,” Efrati said. “This is a big, big goal because [if] you don’t use it, you lose it.”
In planning this initiative through Mifgashim B’ivrit, Efrati visited many museums on the National Mall before settling on the American history museum.
“I found that because most of the people, maybe 98% of the people who came so far, know the content of the museum — they know what it is all about,” she said. “So it’s relatively simple to use the exhibit to speak Hebrew, even if you know very little Hebrew.”
It’s also important that the museum is home to a variety of exhibits, providing many opportunities for conversation, Efrati said. A LIFE magazine cover featuring a plethora of fruits and vegetables on display inspired a game of “ping pong” — Efrati had participants take turns naming as many fruits and vegetables as they could in Hebrew.
She’s seen success in approaching Hebrew through the lens of a Smithsonian museum.
“Almost everyone who comes [to] visit the museum say[s], ‘This was so much fun!’” Efrati said. “And because they take all the [educational] packets home, … they write all kinds of comments and words in it. Also, I hear, ‘I’ve learned so many words.’”
Efrati plans to continue these learning sessions and even hopes to expand this program to Planet Word Museum in Washington.
“I just love meeting people who like to speak Hebrew,” she said.
