Sivan Rahav-Meir
Sivan Rahav-Meir (Hebrew: סיון רהב מאיר; born July 2, 1981) is an Israeli journalist,[1] news reporter, and TV and radio anchor.[1]
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Biography
Sivan Rahav was born in Ramat Hasharon to Aryeh and Ronit. When she was six, the family moved to Herzliya and she began writing in the children's magazines "Chupar" and "Pashosh". Identified as a gifted child at age eight, she studied at the School for Gifted Children – Shmuel HaNagid in Herzliya and then in the Ramot program for gifted children at the Rothberg High School. Rahav-Meir served in the Galei Zahal army radio as the correspondent for welfare and absorption, legal affairs and religious affairs. Rahav was brought up secular, and became Orthodox as a teenager.[2]
In 2003, she married Yedidya Meir, a publicist and radio presenter.[1]Rahav-Meir lives in Jerusalem with her husband five children.[1]
Journalism and media career
Rahav-Meir was a presenter on Israeli Educational Television, including the children's programs "Banana Boom", co-presented with Michael HaNegbi, "Zoombit", a computer affairs program as well as a youth reporter for the "Kulanu" and "Rosh #1" magazines. She interviewed Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres,[1] and took part in the Dan Shilon Live program and in Dudu Topaz's entertainment show.
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Her first book was published when she was 17: The Guide for a Young Journalist. She earned her BA in Political Studies and Management from Tel Aviv University when she was 18. During her studies at university, Rahav-Meir became religiously observant, having been influenced by the works of Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Prof. Nechama Leibowitz, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. Prior to her IDF military service, she did a year of community service at the Beit Yisrael pre-military academy.
In 2002, Upon completion of her military service she was appointed religious affairs reporter for Channel 2 and later the legal affairs reporter. She was the anchor of the daily news magazine Shesh Im (Six O'Clock News) on Channel 2, alternating with Oded Ben-Ami.
In 2005, the two co-authored "Yamim Ktumim" (Days of Orange) published by Yediot Aharonot Books, which is a series of interviews with leading figures in the Religious-Zionist community in Israel including: Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, David Landau, the former chief Rabbi of the IDF, Brig.Gen. Rabbi Yisrael Weiss, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Motty Zisser and others, who discuss their personal views on various aspects of the Disengagement Plan from the Gaza Strip.
In 2006 she became the co-presenter of "Yom Hadash" (A New Day), Keshet's morning magazine show. Her co-presenters were Gidi Gov and then Danny Kushmaro. In October 2008, Rahav-Meir was the first to reveal that business tycoon Lev Leviev had moved to London.
In October 2009, she was appointed Knesset affairs correspondent, replacing Amit Segal who was temporarily posted to Europe. From 2009, she presents a weekly radio program on Galei Zahal with her husband Yedidya on Fridays at noon.
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Back line: Dov Eichenwald, Sivan Rahav-Meir, Dr. Asael Lubotzky, Yehoram Gaon
In March 2011, Rahav-Meir held an exclusive interview with Sara Netanyahu who spoke about the criticism leveled against her. Rahav-Meir has also interviewed Moshe Talanski, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Anat Kamm, Arkady Gaydamak, Lev Leviev, and Shula Zaken. She was the first to report on Yigal Amir's marriage to Larissa Trimbobler.
Rahav-Meir writes a column on the Torah portion of the week in the weekend supplement of Yedioth Ahronoth.
She began giving weekly talks on the Torah portion in September 2015. As of 2018, these lectures take place in the Heichal Shlomo synagogue in Jerusalem and are broadcast on radio and social media. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of these talks, President Reuven Rivlin came to hear her.
Awards and recognition
In February 2016, she was chosen in a survey conducted by the polling institute Meseker as the most popular Facebook personality in the Religious-Zionist sector, followed by her husband in second place.
In March 2016, Rahav-Meir was awarded the tender to moderate the International Bible Quiz on Israel's Independence Day but relinquished the opportunity when she found out that the previous quizmaster, Avshalom Kor was still interested in moderating the quiz and that he had been informed by a text message that he was being replaced after 28 years at the job. In 2016, she was selected to moderate Israel's 68th Independence Day torchlighting ceremony together with the actor Amos Tamam.
In 2017, Rahav - Meir was chosen by Globes magazine as the most popular female media personality in Israel,[3] and by the Liberal magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in Israel.[4] In 2019, Rahav-Meir was appointed the World Mizrachi Shlicha to North America, where she lectured in various Jewish communities.[5]
See also
References
- Steinberg, Jessica. "From scrolling to scrolls, Sivan Rahav-Meir melds journalism and Torah", The Times of Israel, January 22, 2018.
- Halpern, Gilad. "Well-Behaved Orthodox Journalists Seldom Make History". TLV1. TLV1. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- Kipa website
- The Liberal website
External links
- Sivan Rahav-Meir's official website
- Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, Part News Anchor, Part Rebbetzin: Meet Israel’s Favorite Newswoman, The Forward, 18 September 2017
- Lahav Harkov, FACEBOOK FOR RASHI, TWITTER FOR MAIMONIDES, Jerusalem Post, 9 November 2017
- Jew of the Week: Sivan Rahav-Meir
- Prof. Livia Bitton-Jackson, Sivan Rahav Meir: The Rebbetzin Journalist, 15 December 2017
- Elliot Resnick, Broadcasting Torah: An Interview With Israeli Journalist Sivan Rahav-Meir, 29 November 2017