Aviva grew up in an Alsatian Jewish family in Strasbourg, France, where family traditions, Jewish education, and the Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs Israélites de France (EEIF, Jewish Guides and Scouts of France) shaped her Jewish identity.
She is a family doctor whose work is guided by a longstanding interest in the relationship between spirituality, ethics, and medicine. Her medical research explored spirituality in medicine, reflecting her enduring curiosity about how people seek meaning in experiences illness and care.
Curious by nature, Aviva is drawn to discovering new places, cultures, and Jewish communities. Through her travels, she enjoys learning how Jewish life takes shape in different cultural settings while remaining rooted in shared texts and traditions. Her approach to leadership has been shaped by communal education, ongoing Jewish learning, and a commitment to expanding women’s participation in Torah study and Jewish liturgical life. Music, particularly Jewish liturgical traditions, is an important source of inspiration and a way of experiencing shared spirituality.