Dov Elbaum was born to an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem
family in 1970. Until the age of 17, Dov was immersed in
the ultra-Orthodox life of Jerusalem and the cloistered
yeshiva studies of that community. During his army
service, he left the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle and ever
since, Dov has engaged passionately in language and
literature, art and philosophy, engaging core questions
of Jewish thought and Israeli life as a journalist,
television host and interviewer, academic researcher,
novelist, lecturer, editor-in-chief and leading voice in
Israeli culture. Dov has recently served as editor-inchief
of Yediot Publishing, and currently hosts the
popular Israeli TV show “Mekablim Shabbat.” Dov is the
director of BINA’s Center for Jewish Thought, the
content director of BINA’s “We Declare” project, and a
founder of BINA’s Secular Yeshiva. Dov has published
several books for children and adults in Hebrew,
including Into the Fullness of the Void: A Spiritual
Autobiography which was recently translated into
English (Jewish Lights 2013). The Hebrew edition was a
bestseller, selling over 50,000 copies.
BINA Center for Jewish Identity & Hebrew Culture is the
leading organization at the intersection of Jewish
Pluralism & Social Action in Israel. BINA strives to
strengthen Israel as a democratic pluralistic society, by
emphasizing Judaism as a culture and Jewish values of
Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). BINA runs
educational, cultural, and community
activism/volunteer programs for thousands of Israeli
and international Jews in Israel each year, especially
through its Secular Yeshiva campuses in Tel Aviv &
Jerusalem. www.bina.org.il/en