For many years there was only one way of Judaism, Orthodox. Tradition was the base and new ideas were usually looked down upon. Orthodoxy was always divided into many separate mini-branches, but they were all the same fundamentally. Then, a new branch came along, Reform. Reform Jews believe in some traditions, mostly the traditions that seem to make sense in the modern world and new ideas were welcomed with open arms. The breaking up of the only branch of Judaism led to other branches, most notably, the Reconstructions, a branch of Judaism even more lax than Reform. The new trends in Judaism worried many Orthodox Jews and led to many battles over what is and is not accepted in way of new ideas. After the Holocaust, when many European Jews fled their countries and came to America, the battles became even more heated, for the European Jews were worried about the new, “secular” Judaism. “American” Judaism, as it is sometimes referred to, consists of the Reform and Reconstructions movements, and later in history, the Conservative movement. All three of these movements allow their members to express their ideas in a free environment unlike Orthodox Judaism and its many branches.