ABSTRACT
There are many similarities in the development of the Jewish religious organizations and institutions in Hungary and in the United States. The first sign of Reform Judaism in the United States appeared in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1824; this, however, did not materialize to any substantial degree. The more conservative element of Reform Judaism, known as the Historical School, gained support and strength with the immigration of the Russian-Polish Jews in the 1870's. In 1886 this group founded a rabbinical institution called The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, which became the core of another American-Jewish movement, Conservative Judaism. In order to see the Hasidic group in its proper perspective in the religious structure of the United States, the groups may be classified in terms of traditional religious behavior, or the observance of the traditional Jewish law, into the following categories: Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Orthodox Judaism with its four subcategories.
