Publication Date: May 1, 2026
In the Lebanese village of Bhamdoun in 1931, Joseph Friedmann is born to a 15-year-old Syrian-Jewish girl hastily married off to a Belgian businessman thirty years her senior. After his parents divorce, Joseph’s new Christian step-father refuses to rear a Jewish child. At the age of eight, Joseph is banished to a Catholic convent, where he experiences betrayal, anti-Semitism, and a deep trauma he cannot bring himself to name. He learns to survive by locking away his feelings. But at the age of fifteen, he allows himself to fall in love with Isabella, a nun-in-training. This, too, ends in heartbreak. She leaves the convent, taking with her Joseph’s unborn child and his hopes of ever belonging in Lebanon.
Joseph sets out on foot toward Palestine, where he takes part in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. He is finally home. But his new country needs his unique set of skills, and Joseph returns to Lebanon as an Israeli spy. Over time, the tools of his trade – daring, violence, deceit, and suppression of self – exact an ever-increasing toll. After twenty years under cover, he completes one final, decisive operation. Now he faces a choice: escape to safety in Israel, or attempt to lay claim to his future by confronting the past – the mother who forsook him; the abbess who abused him; the lover who deserted him.
THE WOLF SHALL DWELL WITH THE LAMB is a literary thriller. This work contextualizes the geopolitical, religious, social and historical realities of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the roots of the current violence in the Middle East. The world needs this novel precisely at this time. The book reminds us of the historical imperatives leading to the founding of the State of Israel, while acknowledging the pain and longing experienced by its Arab citizens and neighbors.
A young Jewish boy abandoned by his mother at a Catholic convent in Lebanon finds himself trying to find his path in a Muslim-dominated area.
Author Emmet Hirsch highlights the history of the Middle East in the 20th century with The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb. Set in 1931, Joseph Friedmann’s birth to a teen forced into an arranged marriage sets the tone for his formative years.
The author depicts Joseph’s life at the convent as being set apart because of his faith, but he manages to prosper thanks to a love of reading. Heartache continues, though, with the arrival of a new abbess and the refusal of his love by a novice.
Joseph’s path to Palestine and then back to Lebanon is marked with challenges for a young man seeking peace. The heartbreaking roller coaster of emotions as he faces ghosts from the past is palpable.
The author brings Middle Eastern culture of the time period to life with a cast of unforgettable characters, both good and bad.
The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb delivers a multi-faceted story of a man caught between cultures seeking answers about the past.
Emmet Hirsch grew up in Jerusalem and served as an artillery officer in the Israel Defense Forces. He is now an obstetrician-gynecologist. His creative reflections on the intersection between the humanities and medicine and short stories have appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Chicago Tribune, The Examined Life and other publications. In December, 2023, THE WOLF SHALL DWELL WITH THE LAMB won first place in the Finest First Five Pages contest of the Off-Campus Writers Workshop.
