Rebecca Rubin


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

Rebecca Rubin is the tenth Historical Character of the American Girls, representing early twentieth-century America during the second wave of European immigration. Rebecca was released in 2009.

Basic Facts

 * Name: Rebecca Rubin
 * Birthday: April 4th, 1905
 * Series Location: New York City, New York
 * Series Timeline: 1914-1916

Personality and Facts
Rebecca is nicknamed "Beckie" by her family. Her family is ethnically Russian; her mother and grandparents immigrated. Rebecca's family is Jewish and maintain their heritage. Rebecca wants to be an actress (like her cousin Max) when she grows up; however, her family does not find this respectable and are expecting her to be a teacher. She wants to appear more grown up than she is, despite the mocking from her older sisters. She is thoughtful and generous. Rebecca often accompanies her father to help work at his shoe store. She likes to crochet and is very good at it. Due to the fact that Rebecca gets hand me downs from her twin sisters, she has two sets of almost all her outfits.

Rebecca loves to be the center of attention or "in the spotlight", often being a little envious of her siblings for getting more attention than she does. In Meet Rebecca she wanted to be the one to light Sabbath candles instead of her sisters who always received praised for looking and acting grown-up. In Rebecca to the Rescue, she was envious because her brother was getting lots of attention leading up to his Bar Mitzvah.

Rebecca struggles with trying to fit in to American culture and balance her own religion and cultural beliefs as well. This was most evident in Candlelight for Rebecca--Rebecca knew that her family didn't celebrate Christmas, but pressure from others about celebrating the holiday made her feel out of place. Often Rebecca wants to be liked and praised and dislikes to be talked about negatively. In Rebecca and Ana Rebecca was so embarrassed by her cousin after the class teased her that she almost wished Ana would disappear from the school. Rebecca has shown herself to be courageous and have natural talent.

American Girl characterizes her as "confident" and "inspiring."

Family and Friends

 * See Also: Minor Characters in Rebecca's Series

Family

 * Louis Rubin: Father
 * Mama Rubin: Mother.
 * Sadie and Sophie Rubin: Older twin sisters.
 * Victor Rubin: Older Brother.
 * Benny Rubin: Younger Brother.
 * Bubbie: Grandmother.
 * Grandpa: Grandfather.
 * Jacob Rubin: Uncle.
 * Fannie Rubin: Aunt
 * Josef Rubin: Cousin.
 * Michael Rubin: Cousin.
 * Ana Rubin: Cousin.
 * Max Shepard: Mama's cousin.

Friends and Minor Characters:

 * Rose Krensky: a classmate who is Jewish like Rebecca and a close friend.
 * Lily Armstrong: an actress who works with Max.
 * Gertie Lowenstein: a classmate of Rebecca's.
 * Sarah Goldstein: another classmate of Rebecca's.
 * Lucy Valenti: a classmate of Rebecca's.
 * Mr. Rossi: the janitor where Rebecca lives.
 * Miss Maloney: Rebecca's teacher.

Books
See List of Rebecca's Books

About Meet Rebecca

 * Rebecca Rubin tugged at her wooden doll until the top and bottom pulled apart to reveal a smaller doll nesting inside. There were seven painted dolls in all, each one tucked inside the next. They reminded Rebecca of her family, which numbered exactly seven.


 * The dolls had belonged to Mama when she was growing up in Russia, long before Rebecca was born. But now the Russian dolls were Rebecca’s treasure. She lined them up along the parlor windowsill, behind the sheer curtains.
 * “Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please!” said Rebecca to her imaginary audience. Slowly she drew back the curtains and wiggled the doll she thought of as the mother to the front of the windowsill stage.


 * “It’s almost sundown,” Rebecca said in a no-nonsense mama voice. “I hope you’ve all had your baths.” She moved the mama closer to one of the smaller dolls. “Beckie, dear,” she said sweetly, “you are so grown-up now. Tonight you may light the candles.”


 * Rebecca pretended two of the bigger dolls were her older sisters. She moved them to face the mama and squawked in a high voice, “She’s not old enough! She’s practically a baby!” The two big sister dolls butted into the little Beckie doll, and it wobbled close to the edge of the windowsill.


 * Rebecca pushed the papa doll until it stood in front of the others. “Well, curl my mustache,” she said in a deep voice. “Beckie’s not a baby anymore. She knows the Hebrew blessing perfectly. She is certainly old enough to light the candles tonight.”


 * Before Rebecca could make her brother dolls speak, Mama’s very real voice broke into her performance.
 * “Beckie, you’ll have to put away your dolls,” she called from the kitchen. “It’s time to set the table.”


 * “Phooey!” Rebecca said under her breath. She let the curtains fall across her dolls and turned back to the parlor. Extra leaves had been placed in the table to make room for everyone, and Rebecca smoothed the large white tablecloth. She set out two silver candle sticks and placed one white candle in each.


 * Every Friday, Mama cooked and cleaned all day to prepare for the Sabbath. Bubbie, Rebecca’s grand mother, came down from her apartment upstairs to help cook. Before the sun set, the family came together for a special dinner. Friday night was Rebecca’s favorite time of the week. But Mama should let me do something more important than just setting the table, she thought as she lifted a tall stack of Mama’s best dishes from the sideboard.


 * Mama looked in from the kitchen. “Don’t carry too many plates at once!” she cautioned. “And we need one extra tonight.”


 * “Who’s coming?” Rebecca asked, adding a plate and dividing the pile in two. Through the doorway, she could see Bubbie frying fish in a black iron pan. Mama and Bubbie glanced at each other, without answering her question.


 * That made Rebecca even more curious to know who would be sharing their Sabbath dinner. “Who is it, Mama?”


 * Mama stirred sizzling potatoes and onions as she answered. “My cousin, Moyshe.”


 * Now Rebecca nearly did drop the plates. “The actor?” she asked. She had overheard her parents talking about Moyshe before, but she had never met him. He usually traveled around the country, acting in vaudeville shows, but other times he was out of work and needed to borrow money from Papa. Rebecca had always wondered what an actor was like in real life, when he wasn’t onstage. Tonight she would find out.

Rebecca@american girl.com

Doll
Main Article: Rebecca Rubin (doll)


 * Face Mold: Josefina Mold
 * Skin: Light/pale
 * Hair: Honey brown, curly, side part, no bangs
 * Eyes: Hazel

Meet Outfit

 * Red drop waisted dress with black velvet trim and gold buttons
 * Black stockings
 * White bloomers
 * White and black high button shoes
 * Oval gold hair clip

Meet Accessories

 * Black velveteen hat
 * Shawl
 * Rabbit pin

Collection

 * See Rebecca's Collection

Trivia

 * Rebecca is the first Jewish historical, as well as being the second Jewish character released by American Girl. The first was Lindsey Bergman.