Riva is a native speaker of Yiddish, born in a Displaced Person’s Camp in Fahrenwald, Germany shortly after the end of World War II.
Riva has taught Yiddish Language and culture at both Florida Atlantic University and Binghamton University (SUNY). As part of the Judaic Studies Faculty at Binghamton she is credited for the largest Yiddish program at a University. Riva is also on the Hadassah Speakers bureau and is giving presentation to ORT chapters, Council of Jewish Women, Brandeis Women and Yiddish Clubs as well as private students. She speaks on “The Generation after the Holocaust”, “The History of Jewish Humor” and “Jewish Resistance”.
According to her colleagues Riva has a national reputation as “one of the most talented and entertaining Yiddish lectures and teachers around!”