Wolf and others hoped not only to help with the physical rebuilding, but also with the strain that has characterized black-Jewish ties. Jaeger and her husband visited a local public school and answered questions about Judaism. We were some kind of exotic foreign creature. Having them just see us as a people was very significant. She felt the same about the Alabamans she met, and was most fascinated by the spirituality of Rising Star members.
Religion is a very, very important part of their lives.
The warm reception in Greensboro quelled the fears of participants like Gadi Meir, a senior financial consultant for Wells Fargo Bank. Meir, who used his vacation time to take the trip, was concerned that neither whites nor blacks in town would be comfortable with Jewish visitors. But there was no animosity toward Jews at all. There's still an unexpected amount of economic inequity and injustice. Participants represented several Jewish agencies, including the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and Congregations Kol Shofar in Tiburon and Beth Sholom and Emanu-El in San Francisco.