The language of Israel comes alive at the University of Oklahoma, where there are classes and a club for learning Hebrew. Now, we get to meet the extraordinary students and faculty who make up this unique academic program in The Hebrew Project.

“There’s very beautiful chemistry between you all, and between us,” Professor Ori Kritz tells her students. “This is unique. This is how I feel. This doesn’t always exist in other classes or programs. You love to learn Hebrew – you want to learn.”

With the University of Oklahoma’s hiring of Kritz and Lea Reches to its Modern Languages department, the school has been able to offer a complete Hebrew minor since 2003. The following year, Hebrew students began filming each other practicing the language, and director Ryan Timpte began a larger documentary project in early 2005. The resulting film gives a fascinating insight into what drives modern American collegians to learn a foreign tongue.

In up-close interviews, the students tell us what keeps them interested. Aaron Friedman wants to rediscover the Hebrew he let lapse as a child. Jessica Mannes is set on going to Israel to become a filmmaker. Lance Friedensohn is studying to become a Rabbi, while Ryan Timpte thinks Hebrew will help him be a better Christian priest.

“Hebrew is a very hard language,” Timpte tells fellow Hebrew Club members at a party. “One needs to want to study it and to want to be a part of it. Hebrew is not for the lazy or bored. It is for the proud – those who truly want to know it. It is for us.”

Classroom scenes demonstrate how Kritz and Reches approach teaching the language. As it turns out, having fun is a big part of their curriculum. Professors and students gather for Hebrew Club parties where they sing Hebrew songs, watch Hebrew movies and converse in a relaxed environment that takes the classroom out of the learning equation.

One such celebration comes in the spring of 2005 when Kritz is presented with a gift by her first class of graduating pupils. She opens it to find a DVD/VCR (better to watch Hebrew films at home) and emotionally thanks them for their dedication to her teachings.

This same dedication means that students appearing in the film speak only in Hebrew throughout, and diverging levels of proficiency are obvious. Some students are fully immersed, while others are simply fulfilling a degree language requirement. Still, they each express an enthusiasm for the language that makes the film thoroughly enjoyable to watch, even for the linguistically uninitiated.