Rivka was born in Haifa on September 9,1930. Her parents, Shoshana and Chaim Lipner, emigrated from Poland in the early ‘20s. Her father had a true pioneer spirit. Rivka had a brother. The family’s financial situation was difficult. She was educated in Tel-Aviv at the ‘Yavneh School’, then at ‘Tichon Chadash’ High-School and  at the Municipal High-School.

In 1946, following a short period in the Scouts movement, she joined Lehi. In 1947 she was arrested in Ra’anana, at a weapons-training course, five participants of which the British Army killed; they arrested the rest of the boys and girls. Rivka was put on trial and sentenced for life imprisonment.

After six months, with establishment of the State, she was released and immediately joined the IDF, where she served as a paramedic in the 21^st Battalion’s Carmeli Brigade. She married fellow Lehi member Herzel Eliav. They have three children: Nimra, Boaz and Yoav, and eleven grandchildren. She graduated from “Avni” School of Art, and from Art-Instruction College and taught at Kibbutz Nir-Am. In 1952 she moved to Beer-Sheba, with her husband who was a high-ranking military officer. After five years she settled with her family at Moshav Orot. They ran a fruit orchard and created and produced artistic metal art. This evolved into creating collages composed of different metals, which reaped  real success in exhibitions both in Israel and abroad. In 1969 the family moved to Jerusalem and resided in the Old City, in a house  she herself renovated. After the Yom-Kippur War, she also opened an art gallery there which she ran for years, and exhibited her paintings.

In the eighties the house and art gallery were sold when she divorced. She then lived and worked in a unique old house which she rennovated in the Nachla’ot neighbourhood in Jerusalem. Due to health considerations, Rivka moved to live next to her daughter Nimra in Tel Aviv. She continues to create art and has published a book of her short stories titled “Another Bird”.