Her parents, Mendi and Drora Kayla Shulman, who immigrated from Ukraine, helped establish the community.

In 1964 she enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she earned a BSc in Botany and Zoology, along with a Teaching Diploma.

[6] In her position as the wife of the Israeli President, Rivlin concentrated on areas she was most familiar with through her academic work and family.

[10] Inaugurating her first major initiative as First Lady, she welcomed 200 Akim activists to the President's residence to draw attention to the needs of intellectually challenged children and to advocate for supporting them.

[12] Rivlin said violence against children was a great problem throughout society, and that Israel should work to investigate and address child abuse.

[13] In March 2016, she hosted a group of women who had publicly shared their experiences with sexual assault and domestic abuse.

On 11 March 2019, Rivlin received a lung transplant from 19 year old Yair Yehezkel Chalabli's body, who died in a freediving accident.

[24] She died on 4 June, one day shy of her 74th birthday, at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva of complications following the transplant.

[20] Speakers at her funeral included Rabbi Binyamin Lau and author Haim Be'er, as well as her husband, President Rivlin and children.