Professor Zvi Zohar was born in the U.S. and has been living in Israel since his parents immigrated in 1958. After three years of service in the Israel Defense Forces, where he currently holds the rank of Major in the Reserves, he studied for three years in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, before engaging in undergraduate studies at Ben Gurion University in Beersheba. His graduate studies were conducted at the Hebrew University's Institute of Contemporary Jewry, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1989.

He currently works at the Shalom Hartman Institute for Contemporary Halacha and teaches in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program in Contemporary Jewry at Bar Ilan University. He is regarded as an expert on Sephardi Halacha and traditions. His research interests include all aspects of the anthropology, sociology, history, and philosophy of Halacha. Professor Zohar's publications include: Tradition and Change, Conversion and Jewish Identity (co-authored with Avi Sagi); Sephardic Halacha and Rabbinic Thought in the Modern Middle East; and Realms of Identity and Deviance (co-authored with Avi Sagi).