Pope Bows to Orthodox Jewish Woman Who Stands Proud of Her Values.

[Music] I grew up and most ultra-orthodox neighborhood in yosha line I learned in besiaco besiacom and geola the most ultra-orthodox haredi School in Jerusalem on July 24 2014 when reuven rivlin was sworn in as the 10th President of Israel he appointed Rifka ravitz as his chief of staff how does someone who grew up in one of the most high rated neighborhoods in Israel matasdorf was one of 10 children at home and now she herself was a mother of 12. how does she become the chief of staff to the president of Israel well when rivka was 18 years old she married Yitzhak ravitz who was the son of then knesset member of ram ravitz I was a student I was still learning and he offered me to come and work with him at afternoons after school I took the offer and started working at the knesset at the age of 18 and a half two years later he had to let her go because the government passed a law that didn't allow for knesset members a high level government officials to hire relatives when he let her go Reuben rivlin who was also a classic member at the time hired her in his office for six years he was appointed to be the speaker of the Israeli Parliament I was his chief of staff then along those years there were a lot of Elections primaries and I run all of them also gained the money for them also was a responsible for those campaigns and then came the most important campaign in his life and probably also in my life he wanted to be the Israeli President we worked very hard for a year long but he won it and he became the Israeli president and he asked me which job would I like to take into office and I chose to be his chief of staff for the next seven years she was planning arranging and traveling with the president of Israel to all the different countries meeting the most powerful leaders around the world kings queens presidents and prime ministers if you would have to count on fingers five of the most important leaders of the world I'm sure I met them poutine Merkel Obama Trump Biden in November of 2015 Rifka was planning one of the most important meetings of President rivlin they were preparing to meet the Pope in the Vatican the government in Israel attached tremendous importance to this meeting with a pope because the Vatican had massive influence on our bilateral relationships especially on our relations with the Palestinians it was extremely important that when Reuben rivlin and his staff and his entire delegation were meeting the Pope that they make a good first impression we had maybe a dozen of meetings at Israel preparing us the Ambassador came in the Minister of Foreign Affairs even the Prime Minister came in to meet the president before his first time meeting with the Pope and they kept rehearsing it in their minds making sure they know exactly what to expect and how to act how to behave so that everything runs smoothly and we travel to Rome we got to the hotel we had another meeting now with the special ambassador to the Vatican because there are two countries separate countries they basically mapped out the palace they told them as you pull up to the Palace certain Cardinals will be outside greeting you they'll take you into the palace you'll go down a staircase you walk through a hallway with many different chambers when you get to the end of the hallway you'll walk into a different hallway when you get to the end of that hallway you'll enter a room and you'll wait there the Cardinals will leave and then the pope will enter through a side door when the door will be open and we'll see the pope we should stand in a line and come into the room one after each other everyone should shake a hand to the pope bow to him and we will get a small present from his hands as soon as Rifka heard that the pope will be shaking everyone's hand she said hold on one second I'm an orthodox woman I don't shake hands with men the Ambassador said you know if you don't shake hands just take a bow usually I do I could but this this specific time I can't because the pope will be wearing a necklace of a cross and a Jew can't bow to a cross no problem the Ambassador said I will let the Cardinals know and they will let the pope know that you can't shake his hand the big day finally arrives and they're picked up with their limos and they get in and she's in the car next to the president and the Ambassador is with them and she turns to the Ambassador and she's so nervous and she says did you deliver the message to the pope oh he said Rifka I'm so sorry I really forgot I had such a hectic day and I forgot wow I got stressed her heart was racing her Palms were sweating she felt aches all over her body she was so nervous and anxious and yet she said in all my life I haven't shaken the hands of another man other than my husband I can't do that please is there anything you can do the Ambassador sat there look right now we're in the car on the way to the Palace there's no way I can deliver the message on time please understand Rifka the weight that rests on your shoulders to make a good first impression as part of the delegation that represents the state of Israel he said Rifka listen I'm sure if he will call your Rabbi he would let you shake hands with men just this time because it's such an important meeting but that was not what I wanted to do and I just went with them into the cars she knew this was not negotiable she wasn't going to violate her terms and all she could do was pray they pulled up to the Palace the entire delegation got out Cardinals were waiting for them Usher them in and as the ambassadors mapped them out they got into the palace walked down the staircase walk through the chambers the hallway and finally got to the room where they waited for the pope to come in we saw the big door and it was really shattering and nervous and then the door opened and the pope was there I was standing at the second place the president was first he went in he shaked his hand he bowed to him he got his present and then my train came and I was really so stressed I was sure I'm going to ruin all this meeting and all the Israelis will be so mad at me Rifka thought she wouldn't be able to live through the moment she was so nervous and as the post started shaking everybody's hands he came to her the Pope [Music] out his hand and tried to shake my hand and I started to explain that I can do that I'm religious I'm ultra-orthodox and the president was standing next to me and he was telling him about my father-in-law that was the head of the ultra-orthodox party in the knesset and the pope even though he couldn't understand the language he had an interpreter but he was able to sense the strength and the courage of rivka rabbits and to honor her the pope took a bow to her he himself bowed as he gave me the seven air and that moment was memorialized in a photo that went completely viral around the world the pope bowing to an orthodox woman who stood proud and Tall of her values when I came back to Israel I got hundreds of phone calls is that true what happened when rivka was interviewed by so many different journalists and news media Outlets she kept repeating the same line I think he bowed to me not because my name is Rifka not because of me being a chief of staff the president he was battling towards me because he handed the fact that I stood up from my values through all those years I had the Hana to meet RI of the American Presidents Obama Trump and Biden on her last visit with rivlin to the White House she still remembers being ushered into the Roosevelt room according to protocol president rivlin was supposed to go first by himself into the oval room 15 minutes afterwards the staff would be coming in and accompanying the arrest of the professional meeting so rivlin turned to rivka rabbits and said to her look it's our last visit how would you like to join me alone with the president of the United States in the Oval Office Enrique ravitt said yes I'd love to a few minutes later President Biden walks into the Roosevelt room and ushers rivlin into the Oval Office and rival in motions to Rift rabbits to come along with him and in the Oval Office president rivlin introduced Rifka ravitz so President Biden came to shake my hand so I took my hands back and president rivlin explained to him she can't shake hands she comes from a very religious community in Israel and guess how many children she has so president if I didn't say how many and he said she's a mother to 12 children well he said my mother should know you if she would know I am meeting with a woman that has 12 children she would admire you and right away Biden got on his knees and said I need to honor you and you can sense the reverence and the awe he had for Rifka rabbit simply because she was a mother of 12 children these modern days the value of family is not such valuable and here comes the president one of the most influential leaders of the world and still admire of value as a value of family to live proudly as a Jew every time I felt compelled to stand up for my values and beliefs I was treated to respect and understanding a great deal of respect and a great deal of understanding