jewish-privilege:

Just as an FYI, because I can see people becoming confused about this very easily and quickly.

Conservative Judaism has nothing to do with politics or political ideology. Within Ashkenazi Judaism, we have different movements or “denominations” (many Jews don’t like to use denomination as it is a Christian term) all of which started when Jews were emancipated in Europe beginning in 1790 in France and ending in Romania in 1923. With emancipation came the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, wherein Jews were legally able to be full citizens of society and able to interact with Judaism in the same way Christians had been able to interact with Christianity.

A very bare-bones definition of four main movements (and there are more!) are:

Reconstructionist: Founded by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan in the 1950s in the United States within the Conservative Movement. Judaism is seen as an “evolving religious civilization.” (Reconstructionist Rabbinical Society)

Reform: Founded by Moses Mendelsohn in the late 1700s in Germany as a way to reform Judaism to work within modern life. Halakha (Jewish law) is interpreted personally. (Union for Reform Judaism)

Conservative: Sort of a middle ground between Reform and Orthodox. Founded in the late 1800s by Rabbi Zecharias Frankel in Germany. Halakha is interpreted both according to what Rabbis have already decided (that’s where conservative comes from because it’s conserving that tradition) and by the members in an egalitarian manner. (Jewish Theological Seminary)

Orthodox (the only movement without a centralized organizational structure): This movement was a response to the Reform movement wherein Halakha is interpreted according to what Rabbis have already decided (piskei halakha or rulings of law).

These are all valid Judaic movements. Any member of any of these movements is as Jewish as a member of any other movement.

ETA: Although these movements started in Europe, these definitions and their names are US-based.