ELBAUM, Dov << back to list Dov Elbaum, 39 years old, currently hosts a TV talk show concerning the Torah’s Portion of the Week and teaches at two educational institutes, integrating religious and secular thought through his research and fiction-writing. Elbaum has written two successful novels, Zman Elul and My Life with the Ancestors, along with two children’s books and numerous essays. He was awarded the President`s Prize for Young Writers in 2002. Bibliography & Foreign sales JOURNEY INTO THE VOID (autobiography) 2009 Journey into the Void is the spiritual autobiography of one of Israel’s leading cultural figures. Growing up in an ultra-orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood, Dov Elbaum was a prodigy who seemed destined for greatness in the world of Talmud study. But in his late teens, Elbaum dramatically broke with the ultra-orthodox world and set out into secular Israeli society. In Journey into the Void, Elbaum seeks to understand what led to his decision, and its consequences. With the Kabbalah as his roadmap, Elbaum moves to the deep recesses of his self and his soul. The ultimate goal of his journey is “the Void,” a Kabbalistic space that precedes God’s creation of the world, and a psychological state that precedes our formation as individuals. It is a space of great vulnerability, but also of hope for renewal and rebirth. This is an honest, revealing work, both deeply personal and strikingly universal. Rights sold to: Israel, Am Oved. Reviews ” Journey into the Void is one of the most fascinating and important books published in Israel in recent years… brilliant, courageous and innovative…This work…serves as a modern continuation of the literary and scholarly work of Martin Buber…; it also follows in the footsteps of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s work. Elbaum … makes present and internalizes the ancient Kabbalistic perceptions in his personal life, as well as within the modern, secular society in which he lives. By that he creates a renewed understanding - both personal and spiritual - of a Jewish tradition that today non-Jews and non-Israelis worldwide are also fascinated by. The book carries a message that is both and at the same time universal and Jewish; readers who are not of the Jewish faith can nevertheless acquire immense knowledge from Elbaum’s reading of the Kabbalistic tradition and to hold a Kabbalistic, spiritual journey into their own soul.” Prof. MOSHE IDEL, Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought, Hebrew University, Jerusalem