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'"Rebecca" redirects here. For the doll, see Rebecca Rubin (doll).

Rebecca Rubin is the tenth Historical Character, representing early twentieth-century America during the second wave of European immigration and Jewish-American culture. Rebecca was released in 2009 and was part of the BeForever collection.

Personality[]

Rebecca--nicknamed "Beckie" by her family--is a middle child in a Russian-Jewish Immigrant family; specifically, her family are Ashkenazi Jewish. Her mother Vera and maternal grandparents immigrated from Russia, as did her father Louis and his parents. Rebecca's family keep multiple ties to their Jewish faith and Russian heritage; they rest on the Sabbath, celebrate Jewish holidays, and Rebecca knows the tale of Clever Karina enough to recite it as a performance. However due to needs in America, there are compromises her family makes to assimilate, such as her father opening up his shop on the Sabbath for business (as the day off is traditionally Sunday in the Christian faith.) Rebecca's family speaks fluent Yiddish; the books have various Yiddish words integrated into the stories. Rebecca likes coming together with her family for Sabbath dinners.

She wants to be an actress like her cousin Max when she grows up, and enjoys movies like her older twin sisters instead of Yiddish plays. . However, her family does not approve of her following in Max's footsteps; they find acting to be less respectable and want Rebecca to be a teacher. Rebecca acts out plays with her wooden dolls and pretends various scenes of acting when doing chores. She likes to crochet and is very skilled, not needing to read the patterns to make doilies. Rebecca loves to make people laugh and is lively with a dramatic flair; she is courageous and has natural talent.

As the second-to youngest child of five, Rebecca often wants to appear more grown up than she is and stand out; she seeks to be the center of attention or in the spotlight. She is envious of her siblings for getting more attention than she does and feeling overlooked as not unique by being a twin like Sophie and Sadie, studying for a coming of age ceremony like Victor, or the youngest like Benny. She protests when told she's not old enough to do mature things such as light the Sabbath candles like her sisters. Rebecca gets hand-me-down dresses from her twin sisters, leaving her with two sets of nearly all her outfits; she later shares them with her cousin Ana, so they can appear alike.

Rebecca, as a Jewish girl, struggles with trying to fit in with mainstream American/Christian culture while maintaining her connections to her own culture and religious beliefs; for example, she is unsure of how to handle Christmas activities when her family doesn't celebrate Christmas and is uncomfortable when expected to participate, such as making holiday decorations and her teacher Miss Maloney saying that Christmas is an American holiday for everyone (when it is, factually, a Christian one).

Rebecca often accompanies her father to his shoe store, where she helps with chores and other shop needs; she has a knack for business and making money, similar to her father. Rebecca can be bossy, especially when she's directing plays or performances, and tends to want things to go her way. Her favorite subject in school is arithmetic; she is exceptionally skilled at mathematics, and her grandpa calls her a math whiz. Her favorite book is Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She would rather spend her time in the splashing waves at Coney Island than be anywhere else. She is thoughtful and generous, but also can be ashamed of negative attention, such as when her cousin Ana stood out in school and she felt embarrassment.

American Girl characterizes her as "confident" and "inspiring" while the American Girl shop section describes her as charismatic.

Family, Friends, and Others[]

Family[]

Friends and Minor Characters[]

Books[]

See List of Rebecca's Books

Doll[]

RebeccaBFDollFull

The Rebecca Doll.

Main article: Rebecca Rubin (doll)

Collection[]

See Rebecca's Collection

Trivia[]

  • Rebecca is the first Jewish historical character and the second Jewish character released by American Girl; the first was Lindsey Bergman.

See also[]

References and Footnotes[]

  1. In Rebecca and the Movies, Rebecca and Rose are out on a Saturday afternoon during Passover. Rebecca says her birthday is the next day--Sunday. Passover in 1915 was from Tuesday, March 30 to Tuesday, April 6th by the Gregorian calendar in 1915. The only Sunday in that time frame is the 4th of April. Her birthday was later formally confirmed by American Girl.

American Girl Historical Characters
1760s

Kaya'aton'my

1770s

Felicity Merriman ♦ ★

1810s

Caroline Abbott ♦ ★

1820s

Josefina Montoya

1850s

Cécile Rey
and Marie-Grace Gardner

1850s

Kirsten Larson

1860s

Addy Walker

1900s

Samantha Parkington

1910s

Rebecca Rubin

1920s

Claudie Wells

1930s

Kit Kittredge

1940s

Nanea Mitchell

1940s

Molly McIntire

1950s

Maryellen Larkin

1960s

Melody Ellison

1970s

Julie Albright

1980s

Courtney Moore

2000s

Nicki Hoffman
and Isabel Hoffman

Archived / ♦ Part of the BeForever Collection

BeForever-Revised and Released Historical Characters
1760s

Kaya'aton'my

1770s

Felicity Merriman ♦ ★

1810s

Caroline Abbott

1820s

Josefina Montoya

1860s

Addy Walker

1900s

Samantha Parkington

1910s

Rebecca Rubin

1930s

Kit Kittredge

1940s

Nanea Mitchell

1940s

Molly McIntire ♦ ★

1950s

Maryellen Larkin

1960s

Melody Ellison

1970s

Julie Albright

Archived | ♦ Re-released for BeForever | ♥ First Released in BeForever

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