Lazie  Rivlin’s Testimonial to His Mother Rachel 

When I was a child, I believed my mother made her living from working for  Ezrath Nashim Hospital. It was so much part of her life - dedicating over 40 years to serving on the hospital’s board, and telling everyone she met anywhere in the world about how important “her hospital” in Jerusalem was. When King Solomon wrote in the Book of Proverbs in verse 31 about Eshet Hayil: “She rises while still the night and directs her household”. he must have been thinking  of my mother, bless her soul. - I fondly remember Thursday evenings at  home when my mother dedicated herself to cooking for Shabbat. Shabbat evening at the Rivlin’s was a marvelous time: the entire family would sit around the dinner table, never was there a Shabbat when we did not have guests from overseas joining us. As always, after the Birkat Hamazon (Blessing after the Meal, we would all move to the living room for coffee and cake. At this point, my mother would tell our guests about Ezrath Nashim [Women who Help].  And why would she do that? To raise more money for the institution which had become her life’s endeavor. 

Each time I found out that an additional guest had been invited to dinner, I would ask in amazement, but how will you feed everyone?   My mother would wink at me,  and say, hey kiddo , it’s just another glass of water in the soup.”  Another quote from the Book of Proverbs describes my mother: “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you have exceeded them all.”  She would always wake up early in the morning while everyone else still slept, and clean the house and prepare our clothes before she left for work. 

Ezrath Nashim Hospital took first place in her heart, then came “Chonen Dal” for the poor, Alyn, for handicapped children, “B'nai Brith” and the Jerusalem municipality, and then all the other charities you can imagine.. . When I asked my mother why she worked so passionately and tirelessly on behalf of Ezrath Nashim,  she looked at me and said: “this is the legacy I have inherited from the Rivlins and many other dedicated women who came before me”. Little by little I understood that she was carrying on the mission of those who came before her. 

In 1894 Mrs. Itta Yellin, daughter of Michal Pines and wife of David Yellin, who together with Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, and Yosef Meyuchas, were the three redeemers of the Hebrew language -- decided that it was her duty to care for those who had incurable diseases. Courageously, she established, in the Old City of Jerusalem, the first institution, which was comprised of two beds, and named it Ezrath Nashim. .Later as the facility expanded to become the first psychiatric hospital in the entire Middle East, Ezrath Nashim relocated to the newly developing West Jerusalem, outside of the old City. The building was located across from the big tree, which had come to serve as a gathering point, or in hitchhiking terms, the “Trampiada” for soldiers coming and going from their  military units, myself among them. The building had a big wall around it, with a large iron gate. Only a few were privileged enough to hold the big key which opened the gate, and my mother was one of them. 

Later on, together with Mr. Moshayov, the former Director of Ezrath Nashim they developed  Friends of Ezrat Nashim groups. Among them was Rebetzin Sarah Herzog, who was elected to serve as the hospital’s president, a position she held for 37 years. During the 1950s the hospital’s needs grew to a point where a new building  had to be built, since the existing structure was not intended to serve as a hospital, and did not meet the necessary requirements. Persistence, and my mother’s natural gift for fund-raising, combined with her vision, resulted in acquiring a plot of land in the Givat Shaul area of Jerusalem. 

I remember that when my father, the late Prof. Yosef Yoel Rivlin, was a visiting professor at New York University, my mother accompanied him. She spent her time in New York speaking to everyone she could about how important it was for them to donate to Ezrath Nashim, so that the new Hospital building could be built. This was a life mission for her, not only to help raise the funds for the construction, but also to commemorate those extraordinary women of the Old Yishuv, whose vision had brought so much comfort to so many who needed it. 

When Rebetzin Herzog passed away, it was decided to honor her memory and rename the hospital “Herzog Hospital”. 

Today we have decided to help build a new wing in the hospital, and to name it after those extraordinary women, to elevate their memories and their blessed work in perpetuity. Today, when the economic situation is difficult, we have no greater privilege than to honor the heroes and heroines of Jerusalem, the pioneers- Rivlins and those connected to them who we are very proud of, who were among the first of seven to move outside of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem into Nachalat Shiva, the first neighborhood outside the City Walls. At this time, we Rivlin’s, together with the families connected to us must lend a hand, to fulfill and honor our predecessors who have dedicated themselves to assist others who were less fortunate. .

Eliezer (Lazie), son of Yosef Yoel and Rachel Rivlin