The postwar decades were a time of immense growth for the Conservative movement. Most of the 500,000 decommissioned Jewish GIs left the densely populated immigrant neighbourhoods of the East Coast, moving to suburbia. They were Americanized but still retained traditional sentiments, and Reform Judaism was too radical for most. The United Synagogue of America offered Jewish education for children and a familiar religious environment which was also comfortable and not strict. It expanded from 350 communities by 1945 to 832 by 1971, becoming the largest denomination, with some 350,000 dues-paying member households (1.5 million people) at synagogues and over 40 per cent of American Jewry identifying with it in polls, adding an estimated million more non-registered supporters.
The postwar decades were a time of immense growth for the Conservative movement Most of the 500,000 decommissioned Jewish GIs left the densely populated immigrant neighbourhoods of the East Coast, moving to suburbia They were Americanized but still retained traditional sentiments, and Reform Judaism was too radical for most. The United Synagogue of America offered Jewish education for children and a familiar religious environment which was also comfortable and not strict It expanded from 350 communities by 1945 to 832 by 1971, becoming the largest denomination, with some 350,000 dues-paying member households (1.5 million people) at synagogues and over 40 per cent of American Jewry identifying with it in polls, adding an estimated million more non-registered supporters.