Fields of research: Iberian Jewry after the Expulsions, the Conversos and their Diaspora, the Western Sephardi  Communities, the Intellectual Ferment in Early Modern Western Europe, the Western Sephardi and the Early Enlightenment

Academic Functions: Chairman of the Historical Society of Israel, 1992-2000; Director of the School of History at the Hebrew University, 2001-2004; Chairman of the World Union of Jewish Studies, 2009-2013; since 2013 Chairman of the Humanities Division of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Prizes and Awards:  Ben Zvi Prize (2003) and Israel Prize (2013). In 2012 he was awarded an Advanced Grant  from the European Research Council (ERC).

Since 2004 he is a member of the Israel Academy for Sciences and Humanities.