Rabbi Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi is the Effie Wise Ochs Professor of Biblical Literature and History at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles campus. Her many publications including the award-winning books, The Torah: A Women’s Commentary of which she is Editor (The National Jewish  Book of the Year Award, with Rabbi Dr. Andrea Weiss) and JPS Bible Commentary: Ruth (National Jewish Book Council Award in Women Studies). A leading scholar in the field, she is currently completing the Anchor Bible Commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah. She lectures widely in academic circles and is as well a popular Scholar-in-Residence. She is also a former director of the Institute of Interfaith Studies at the University of Denver.