This Narrow Space: A Pediatric Oncologist, His Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Patients, and a Hospital in Jerusalem

Elisha Waldman

Jan 2018 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Barry Abrams

About this audiobook

Waldman's years at Hadassah were filled in equal measure with a deep sense of accomplishment, with frustration when regional politics sometimes got in the way of his patients' care, and with tension over the fine line he would have to walk when the religious traditions of some of his patients' families made it difficult for him to give these children the care he felt they deserved. Navigating the baffling Israeli bureaucracy, the ever-present threat of war, and the cultural clashes that sometimes spilled over into his clinic, Waldman learned to be content with small victories: a young patient whose disease went into remission, brokenhearted parents whose final hours with their child were made meaningful and comforting.



As he sought to create both a personal and a professional life in his new home, Waldman struggled with his own questions of identity and belief, and with the intractable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that had become a fact of his daily life. What he learned about himself, about the complex country that he was now a part of, and about the heartbreakingly brave and endearing children he cared for—whether they were from Me’ah She’arim, Ramallah, or Gaza City—will move and challenge readers everywhere.

About the author

Elisha Waldman is associate chief, division of pediatric palliative care, at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. He received his BA from Yale University and his medical degree from the Sackler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv. His writing has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review and the Hill.

Barry Abrams has narrated and produced audiobooks for a variety of publishers. Since 2012, he has also hosted and produced ESPN's In the Gate podcast. Based in Danbury, Connecticut, Barry engineers and calls live webcasts of his son's ice hockey games.