Dr. Ruth Calderon is a former member of Israel’s national parliament, the Knesset, as well as the former head of the cultural and education department at the National Library of Israel. She is the founder and director of Alma College, a liberal arts center in Tel Aviv specializing in the study of Hebrew culture. She is also the founder of Elul, a pluralistic, egalitarian center for Jewish studies in Jerusalem. Calderon received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and she is a graduate of the first class of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership. Dr. Calderon is the author of A BRIDE FOR ONE NIGHT, a personal homiletic reading of Talmudic legends.

She received the prestigious Avichai Prize in recognition of her contribution to promote the legacy of Israel. She is also the recipient of an honorary degree from Hebrew College in Boston, as well as a degree of doctor of humane letters, Honoris Causa from the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS).