Bar-Ilan University is a public research university in Ramat Gan, in Israel’s Tel Aviv District. It was founded in 1955 and is the second-largest academic university in Israel. The university has about 20,000 students and 1,350 faculty members. Its mission is to combine Jewish tradition with modern technology and academic learning, so all students can learn Jewish heritage alongside a strong education. Bar-Ilan is especially well known in subjects like computer science, engineering, engineering physics, and applied physics. In 2024, it received a $260 million anonymous donation to support science research and investment. Bar-Ilan University was created in 1950 in Atlanta through the American Mizrahi movement, then founded in 1955 by Rabbi Pinkhos Churgin. Named after Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan, it was designed to combine secular studies with Jewish Torah learning, and it serves a diverse student body including both Jewish and non-Jewish students. After leadership changes and major expansion under Moshe Kaveh, the university has grown in science, archaeology, and research, including major donations and new initiatives for energy storage and technology. Bar-Ilan University has nine faculties, plus a special unit for interdisciplinary studies. All undergraduate students must take ten courses related to Jewish studies, and the university offers an international B.A. program taught entirely in English, with internationally recognized degrees for students worldwide. Bar-Ilan also provides programs for new immigrants, including a preparatory program, and a one-year overseas program called Torah Im Derech Eretz that combines morning Torah study with afternoon university courses and Jewish history. It additionally supports research through institutions such as the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, which focuses on neuroscience and may have its own requirements. The Bar-Ilan Responsa Project won the Israel Prize in 2007. The university’s Bible project was almost cut due to budget cuts but was saved at the last moment by an anonymous donor. In addition, Bar-Ilan ranked as the fourth best business school in Africa and the Middle East in the 2010 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report. Bar-Ilan University has produced notable alumni across politics, security, academia, and culture. These include former heads of Israel’s Shin Bet, members of the Knesset, ministers and diplomats, and scholars such as Holocaust researcher Esther Farbstein and experts in fields like mathematics and biophysics. The list also includes authors, commentators, and LGBTQ rights activist Zehorit Sorek.

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