During 1918–23 he studied Arabic and Islam at the University of Frankfurt under the guidance of the famous scholar Josef Horovitz, while continuing his Talmudic study with a private teacher. He left the university with a dissertation on prayer in Islam. In the year 1923, Goitein fulfilled his lifelong dream and immigrated together with Gershom Scholem sailing to Palestine, where he stayed for thirty-four years. He lived four years in Haifa until he was invited to lecture at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which had been inaugurated two years earlier. In Jerusalem, he married Theresa Gottlieb (1900–1987), a eurhythmics teacher who composed songs and plays for children. They had three children, Ayala, Ofra, and Elon.