The Rebbe of Baton Rouge By Jennifer Anne Moses and Stuart P. Green About the Book Anna Zisk is a professor of Yiddish literature who, after being accused of an inappropriate relationship with a grad student, flees her settled life in Boston and seeks refuge at her childhood home in Baton Rouge. There, she’s forced to confront her long-ago first boyfriend, who claims he still loves her; a fraught relationship with her sister; and the uneasy feeling of never having quite belonged in the Deep South. To top it all off, she’s been relegated to teaching LSU football players basic composition—a skill they do not crave and will not master. Meanwhile, Adam Kluger, the new rabbi in town, is struggling to keep his congregation afloat in a small southern city where there are barely enough Jews to fill a high school gymnasium. It doesn’t help that his ex-fiancée left him; the cross-town rival synagogue’s rabbi is poaching his shul’s members; and he’s being haunted by a spectral, Yiddish-speaking, elderly Hasid who pops up at the most inopportune moments. Not to mention that he’s falling in love with Anna. The Rebbe of Baton Rouge is funny, absorbing, and twisty. A genre-bending, Yiddish-infused, southern lit rom-com that digs deep into the dynamics of this proud but vulnerable community—their rivalries and friendships; pettiness and generosity; faith and skepticism; insecurities and sense of solidarity. About the Authors Jennifer Anne Moses is the author of nine previous books of fiction and nonfiction, including Bagels and Grits: A Jew on the Bayou (memoir). Stuart P. Green is a distinguished professor of law at Rutgers University and the author of several leading books on criminal law and philosophy. After raising their three children largely in Baton Rouge, Jennifer and Stuart moved to Montclair, New Jersey, where they live with their two bad dogs. Praise for The Rebbe of Baton Rouge “The Rebbe of Baton Rouge is flat-out marvelous entertainment! Its characters are irresistible—funny, sad, star-crossed and lovelorn, and wonderfully intelligent—and its captivating, page-turning narrative is further illuminated by the periodic presence of a meddlesome angel. What’s not to like?” –Steve Stern, author of the National Jewish Book Award–winning The Wedding Jester and The Frozen Rabbi “A big-hearted and hilarious look at the particularities—and peculiarities—of Jewish culture in a small Southern city. This novel reminds readers everywhere to follow your heart and trust your gut, to be open to the kindness of strangers . . . and of Yiddish-speaking ghosts. This book had me kvelling.” –Emily Nemens, author of Clutch “An elegantly choreographed hora—wheeling and winding with one foot out the door. And all the Yiddish is lagniappe.” –Michael Martone, author of Table Talk & Second Thoughts and Plain Air: Sketches from Winesburg, Indiana “A brilliant but unsettled scholar of Yiddish, a hapless new-in-town rabbi, and a mysterious elderly Jew who may or may not exist—The Rebbe of Baton Rouge is a wry and affectionate portrait of a struggling southern Jewish community in all its quirks and contradictions.” –Julia Claiborne Johnson, author of bestselling novels Be Frank with Me and Better Luck Next Time © 2026 Jennifer Anne Moses and Stuart P. Green 978-1-959569-38-1 | Paperback | 202 pp. | 6" x 9" |