The Center’s roots are in the Diaspora Research Institute that was founded in 1964 through the initiative of Professor Shlomo Simonsohn, who directed the Institute from its establishment until 1992. Thanks to a generous donation from Mr. Abraham Goldstein-Goren z"l in March 2002, the Institute was able to expand its activities and became a Center bearing his name. Since then, the Center has been operating through the assistance of an annual donation from the Cukier, Goldstein-Goren Foundation. As of December 2006, Prof. Simha Goldin serves as Director of the Center.

Several units and projects, as well as the Institute for the History of Polish Jewry and Israel-Poland Relations, operate within the Center, carrying out long-term research and documentation projects, which focus on specific communities, countries or topics. Likewise, the Center initiates conferences and workshops and regularly publishes books – the fruit of research by its own researchers and others, conference proceedings, and two academic journals: Gal-Ed and Michael. The Mehlmann Library and an archive for the history of the Jewish people in the Diaspora operate under the Center's auspices as well.

The Center's objectives are:

• To prepare and coordinate research tools for studying the history and culture of the Jewish people in the Diaspora.

• To initiate and encourage research projects in Diaspora studies, and to assist in their implementation.

• To publish and disseminate the Center's research projects.

Former Directors of the Center

Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn, 1964-1992

Prof. Minna Rozen, 1992-1997

Prof. Aharon Oppenheimer, 1997-2002

Prof. Jeremy Cohen, 2002-2005

Prof. David S. Katz, 2005-2006