Rivlin

Rivlin (Hebrew: ריבלין‎) is a primarily Ashkenazi Jewish family with origins in Eastern Europe, which became established in Palestine before the advent of Zionism. There are also branches of the family in several other countries.

The family

The Rivlin family originated in Vienna, Austria and has over 50,000 members.^[1] The name Rivlin was derived from the descriptive name of a prominent Torah scholar called Moshe "Rivkes" or "Rivkesh" (b. circa 1600), i.e., Moshe “of Rivka” (Rebecca). This ancestor was author of the commentary Be'er HaGolah on the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). The name Rivkesh led to Riveles, and that led to Rivlin. The first Rivlin to go to what is now Israel (then an Ottoman province) was Hillel Rivlin, who immigrated in 1809 to Jerusalem. In the following years, many more Rivlins arrived in the country. The Rivlins are now one of the oldest and largest Ashkenazi families in Israel..

Diaspora

The Rivlin family has established itself in various large cities throughout the world. The diaspora occurred in the mid-19th century and early 20th century. Members of the Rivlin family can now be found in most major cities of the United States, Paris, London, Rio de Janeiro, parts of Mexico, Australia, and South Africa..

Reunions

The Rivlin family has held major reunions in Jerusalem in 1980 and 2009. These reunions drew thousands of family members to Jerusalem. A film, The Tribe, was made about the 1980 reunion by Lilly Rivlin.

Notable Rivlins

• Hillel Rivlin (1758–1838), Rabbi and student of the Vilna Gaon, revitalized the Ashkenazi community in Palestine
• Joseph Rivlin, Rabbi and secretary of the Chalukah Central Committee under Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shmuel Salant
• Ronald Rivlin (1915–2005), American physicist, created the Mooney-Rivlin solid
• Theodore J. Rivlin (1926–2006), American mathematician
• Leanne Rivlin, (born 1930) an originator of the Environmental Psychology Doctoral Program at the CUNY Graduate Center
• Alice Rivlin (born 1931), American economist (Rivlin by marriage, not a descendant of the family)
• Lilly Rivlin, (born 1936), Israeli filmmaker
• Reuven Rivlin (born 1939), President of Israel
• Eliezer Rivlin (born 1942), deputy-president of the Supreme Court of Israel and chairman of the Central Elections Committee
• Sefi Rivlin (1947–2013), Israeli actor and comedian

Notes