Israel’s largest and most comprehensive institution of higher learning, Tel Aviv University (TAU) is home to over 30,000 students and 1,200 researchers, organized in nine faculties and over 125 schools and departments across the spectrum of sciences, humanities, and the arts.
As an interdisciplinary center of teaching and research, TAU rates among the world’s top academic institutions for excellence. Consistently ranked in the world’s top 20 for scientific citations and among the top 100 universities internationally, TAU is Israel’s first choice for students, with many graduates sought-after by local but world-leading Israeli companies.
Situated in the Non-Stop City of Tel Aviv, TAU shares the Mediterranean city’s non-stop spirit for creativity, community, and innovation, making it the ideal place for learning and pursuing your academic and personal ambitions.
Global in outlook and impact, TAU advances research and teaching that break down the walls between disciplines, striving to address the twenty-first century’s most pressing challenges through bold, interdisciplinary solutions.
TAU at a Glance
30,000 Students
200,000 Alumni
2000+ International Students
130 Research Institutes
125 Schools & Departments
9 Faculties
The Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry
The Center provides an academic framework for the interdisciplinary research and academic study of European Jewry from the end of World War II until the present day. It focuses on Jewish identity, culture, and demography; the relations between Jews and other national, ethnic, and religious groups; antisemitism, its manifestations, causes, and development; and Holocaust memory in political and social discourses.
The Center offers a platform for the diverse needs of researchers, students, governmental and civil service personnel, professionals, activists, and the public at large, both in Israel and abroad, and cooperates with European Jewish communities and their leaders. The Center initiates, encourages, and coordinates research projects, conferences, seminars, and publications in the relevant fields.
Researchers’ Bios
Dina Porat is the former head of the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. She also served as head of the Department of Jewish History, of the Rosenberg School for Jewish Studies, and as incumbent of the Alfred P. Slaner Chair in Antisemitism and Racism, all at Tel Aviv University. She has served as the Yad Vashem chief historian since 2010. Prof. Porat has been awarded prizes for some of her many publications (including the National Jewish Book Award for her biography of Abba Kovner, published by Stanford UP) and the Bahat Prize for her new book on Jewish revenge after World War II, was TAU’s Faculty of Humanities best teacher for 2004, got the Raoul Wallenberg Medal for 2012, appeared on the 50 leading Israeli scholars list of the Marker Magazine at 2013 and Forbes list of the 50 leading women in Israel in 2018, and was a visiting professor at Harvard, Columbia, New York, Venice, and Hebrew universities. Her main research interests include Contemporary and classic antisemitism, History of the Holocaust, Zionism and the Jews of Europe, the “Final Solution” in Lithuania, and Jewish-catholic relations since World War II. She served as an expert for Israeli Foreign Ministry delegations to the UN world conferences and as the academic advisor for the International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (now IHRA).
Haim Fireberg was (until he recently retired) a research associate at the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, Tel Aviv University, and head of research programs at the Center. His main foci of research are the social and demographic situation of Jewish communities in Europe, and urban history of the Jewish community (H’Yishuv) in Palestine in the 20th century and during the first decade of the State of Israel, and the study of virtual Jewish communities (maintaining Jewish and Israeli life in cyberspace). Fireberg is also active in monitoring and researching contemporary antisemitism, concentrating on Europe, and was in charge of analyzing the violent incidents worldwide. His most recent publications are 1) Being a Jew in Germany in the 21st century (ed. with Olaf Glöckner), 2) Being Jewish in 21st Century Central Europe (ed. With Olaf Glöckner, and Marcela Menachem Zoufala). Currently, Fireberg (with partners) conducts vast social and cultural research in five main Jewish communities in Europe.
Lilach Lev Ari is an Associate Professor at Oranim, Academic College of Education. Lilach is the dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and a lecturer. Her research interests include human migration, contemporary Jewry, ethnic identity and intercultural encounters, ethnic minorities and integration, acculturation, and multiculturalism. Lev Ari has published the following books: The American Dream –For Men Only? Gender, Immigration and the Assimilation of Israelis in the United States (2008); and American Israelis, Migration, Transnationalism, and Diasporic Identity (2010 with Uzi Rebhun), Contemporary Jewish Communities in Three European Cities: Challenges of Integration, Acculturation and Ethnic identity (2022, forthcoming), as well as various publications in scientific journals such as Contemporary Jewry, The Journal of Heritage Tourism, Higher Education, Tourism Recreation Research, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development and others.
