Background
Calderon was born in Tel Aviv in 1961 to a Sephardic father who emigrated to British controlled Mandatory Palestine from Bulgaria and an Ashkenazi mother originally from Germany. She grew up in what she describes as "a very Jewish, very Zionist, secular-traditional-religious home that combined Ashkenaz and Sepharad, Betar and Hashomer Hatzair," and attended public schools.
Education
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Career
She earned a Bachelor at Oranim Academic College and the University of Haifa, and went on to earn her Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Talmud from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1989, she established the first Israeli secular, pluralistic and egalitarian Beth Midrash for women and mentor In 1996 she founded American Latino Media Arts, which seeks to acquaint secular Israelis with Hebrew culture.
She hosted a television show on Channel 2 that invited guests to discuss classic and modern Jewish texts.
Her initial speech on the floor of the Knesset included personal anecdotes and talmudic quotations in a plea for mutual understanding and respect, and became a YouTube sensation. Calderon is divorced with three children and lives in Tel Aviv.
Politics
She served as a member of Knesset for Yesh Atid between 2013 and 2015. In 2012 Calderon joined the new Yesh Atid party, and was placed thirteenth on the party"s list for the 2013 elections. She was placed fifteenth on the party"s list for the 2015 elections, and lost her seat as Yesh Atid were reduced to eleven seats.