Nechama Rivlin

Early life and education

Rivlin was born on a moshav that her parents, Mendi and Drora Kayla Shulman, helped to establish. Her mother, who had immigrated from the Ukraine, was widowed when Rivlin was a young girl. Rivlin attended local schools and graduated from the Ruppin Regional High School. Medical issues prevented her from starting military service and in 1964 Rivlin she enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. At graduation she received a BSc in Botany and Zoology, along with a Teaching Diploma. Later in life she studied the History of Art.

Career

Rivlin became a researcher at Hebrew University in 1967. Her initial role was in the Department of Zoology of the Hebrew University, and she later worked in the Department of Ecology and as well as the Department of Genetics.

Rivlin retired in 2007, but in addition to regular employment, she has engaged in a variety of volunteer assignments, including ones in politics and the Jerusalem City Guard.

First Lady

In her role as Israel's First Lady, she has concentrated on areas she is most familiar with through her academic work and family. One area of focus is nature and the environment. She has created a community garden and has begun a new recycling system.

She has also been a vocal supporter of women and children. In her first major activity as First Lady, she welcomed 200 Akim activists to the President’s Residence to promote support for intellectually challenged children. Sharing a message of peace and tolerance, she hosted students and teachers from the Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel at the President's Residence following an arson attack at their school. Rivlin has said violence against children is a great problem throughout society, and that Israel should work investigate and address child abuse. “We must break this conspiracy of silence once and for all,” she said. In March 2016 she hosted a group of women who had publicly shared their experiences with sexual assault and domestic abuse. Rivlin told them that by telling their stories, they would help others face difficult issues.

Rivlin has joined her husband in international travels, including a visit to the White House with U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for the December 2015 Hannukah celebration. She and her husband lit a menorah made in Israel by designer, Ze'ev Raban.

Beginning in November 2015, the First Lady was assigned a security detail for when she is outside the official residence on her own. President Rivlin has been a "target of right-wing verbal attacks, with criticism against him often crossing the line into hate speech," according to the The Times of Israel. The President told Army Radio: “Neither my wife nor I are personally afraid – there is no fear in our hearts, but we are concerned and worry for Israeli democracy.”

Personal

In 1971 she became Reuven Rivlin's wife. The couple has three children, Rivka, Anat and Ran, as well as several grandchildren.