If a resident of New York in the 1950s were asked how many people he would expect to live in New York in sixty years, he would answer the most I probably wouldn't say 20 million. Of those 20 million, it is even more inconceivable that approximately 1.7 million Jews reside in New York, making New York home to more than a quarter of the Jews living in America today. But among these Jews, how many consider themselves religious? Given that only about 10% of Jews today consider themselves observant, how and when did this substantial dispersion occur? The post-World War II period in America presents many different factors and pressures for Jews arriving in America during this time. Although many Jews believed that America would be the best place to preserve and rebuild the Jewish presence in the world, democracy and economic opportunity had negative effects on many Jews. The rate of acculturation and assimilation of many of these Jews proved too strong, causing two types of Jews to emerge during this period. Pressures, including a move to the suburbs, secular education toward professional careers, hidden discrimination in the job market, and compelling American culture, ultimately brought about the emergence of the passive and often embarrassed "American Jew"; The active “American Jewish” or distinctly “Jewish” citizen, conversely, makes Judaism an active and engaging component of who and what he or she is in the midst of this new American culture. For a Jew arriving from Europe in America, a new beginning marked a decisive point. After losing six million Jews during the Holocaust, the United States of America became one of the safest havens to re-establish a strong Jewish presence...... middle of article.... .. preview. New York, April 28, 2014. Barry Chiswick, “The Labor Market Status of American Jews: Patterns and Determinants,” in AJYB, 1985, p. 145. Calvin Goldscheider, Jewish Continuity and Change (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), 29. Arthur Hertzberg, The Jews in America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989), 321. Alvin Chenkin, “Jewish Population in the United States, 1957,” in AJYB, 1958, appendix table Frederick M. Binder, David M. Reimers, All Nations Under Heaven, An Ethnic and Racial History of New York City (New York: Columbia University Press), 206 . Samuel C. Heilman, Portrait of American Jews, the last half of the 20th century (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1998), 4.Elliot Cohen, “An Act of Affirmation”, Commentary 1 (Nov. 1945), 3.New York Times, June 11, 2012New York Times, October. 2, 2013