Torah

The Torah is marked as the “most important document in Judaism.” The Torah, known as the Five Books of Moses, teaches and guides the Jewish people. The five books of the Torah are the first five books of the Old Testament, or Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These would be found in scroll cases where the books were kept. Originating from Hebrew the five words mean:
Genesis (בראשית, Bereshit: "In the beginning...")
Exodus (שמות, Shemot: "Names")
Leviticus (ויקרא, Vayyiqra: "And he called...")
Numbers (במדבר, Bamidbar: "In the desert...")
Deuteronomy (דברים, Devarim: "Words", or "Discourses")
Not only do these books contain the system of laws and commandments, but also a way for various people to learn the historical background behind the Torah and the beginning of Judaism.

The Torah is written on parchment scrolls and they have always been handwritten. The book is then kept in a cabinet in a synagogue. To read from the Torah, people would use a “Yad,” meaning hand in Hebrew, to follow along with the text. This is because of a wide range of reasons depending on the person. Some thought that the book was too holy to be touched, or that the oil from your finger could damage the parchment paper. The scrolls are often covered in fabric and ornamented with silver crown on the handle and a mounted breastplate on the front.

For more information: http://www.jewfaq.org/torah.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah
Image: http://www.hamafitz.com/Images/SeferTorah.jpg

Monotheism

The word monotheism refers to the worship of a single, all-powerful God. This is characteristic of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is distinct from polytheism, the worship of multiple Gods. Most early religions were polytheistic, like those of ancient Egypt and Greece. The first recorded monotheistic religion was instituted by the pharaoh Akhenaton of Egypt, who led a revolution to replace the multitude of Egyptian deities with a single sun god. Most religions aren't purely monotheistic--Judaism, though monotheistic in nature, did not explicitly deny the existence of other gods; it just rejected the idea of worshiping them. Christianity splits God into three parts (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), but these are all deemed to be part of one over-arching entity.

This information comes from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-372493.html .

Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, is the Jewish holiday that concludes the Ten Days of Penitence. It's a day to reconcile with God and other people, a day to ask for forgiveness. This is the day that God will make the decision for what your life will be like for the next year. On this holiday you do not have sex, you fast, you don't wear leather or any perfume, and you don't wash. This is the one holiday where you go to the synagogue (even if you do not go usually). This is the only day of the year when they have five services.

for more information:http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/holydays/yomkippur.shtml
~http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm
~ the Patterns of Religion book

Synagogue

The synagogue is where the Jewish community goes to worship. They also use the synagogue for a study and as a community center. In orthodox synagogues the men and women do not sit together. In a progressive synagogue the men and women can sit together. The synagogue services can either be lead by the rabbi or a member of the congregation.

for more information you can go here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/worship/synagogue_1.shtml

Picture of the Jerusalem Synagogue in Prague is from About.com.

Bar and Bat Mitzvah

Bar Mitzvah meaning "son of commandment" and Bat Mitzvah meaning "daughter of commandment" is a tradition of the Jewish people. This tradition marks the transition between a child and an adult. Around the ages of 13 (12 by girls) the children are required to study the commandments. By the time of their bar or bat mitzvahs, it is assumed that they are fully aware and obligated of the commandments. There is usually a ceremony celebrating the day but is not required and was unheard of in the past. On the Saturday, shortly after the child's 13th or 12th birthday, they are called up to the Torah to deliver a blessing for the weekly reading. Now, it is common to see some congregations where the child reads the entire weekly Torah blessings or lead the service and they are normally required to make a speech, usually starting with "today I am a man." Afterwards some rabbis makes it mandatory for his students to sign an agreement starting they promise to live in the new life they have taken in and what they learned throughout the process.
For more information go to http://www.jewfaq.org/barmitz.htm

Abraham

All right, I'll jumpstart this blag with a Jewish history lesson:

Abraham (or Abram, as he was originally called) is one of the central patriarchal figures in Judaism. He's considered the founding father of Judaism, Islam, and (indirectly) Christianity. Just think what things would be like without this guy.
Abraham grew up in a polytheistic society (he was born in the city of Ur), and his father sold idols for people to worship. However, Abraham believed in a single, all-powerful God. This belief led him to leave his homeland and become a nomad, as God promised he would be the father of a magnificent nation if he did so. This was the beginning of a sacred covenant between God and what would become the Jewish people.
To be the father of a nation, Abraham needed to have kids, and he and his wife Sarai (later called Sarah) found they couldn't. So Sarai offered one of her maids to Abraham as a temporary wife of sorts, and she bore him a child named Ishmael. Followers of Islam today regard Ishmael as the ancestor of the Arabs. Years after his birth, God promised another son to Abraham, this time from Sarah. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, so this was quite unbelievable. Sarah indeed had a child, whom she named Isaac. From Isaac descended the Jewish people, and Jews consider him the true heir of Abraham.

For more info, check out http://www.jewfaq.org/origins.htm , which is where these facts come from.

Image from http://lovejesuschurch2.tripod.com/pics04/abraham.jpg

Kosher

Kosher is a Hebrew term that translates to "fit," or "proper." The word is most commonly associated with the dietary restrictions observed by Orthodox Jews. Reform Jews typically do not consider these restrictions so important, and thus they usually don't observe them. However, the word can be used to refer to other things, such as certain objects used in rituals. The requirements for a food to be considered Kosher are that it isn't a type of animal that has been outlawed in the Torah, and, if it is another type of animal, that it has been killed properly. When the food is prepared, care must be taken to remove blood from any meat. This was done by putting salt on the meat to draw the blood out. In fact, Kosher Salt got its name from this practice, because its large crystals meant that it was well-suited to preparing Kosher meats, since the salt took longer to dissolve, drawing out more blood. Additionally, it is not Kosher to combine meat and dairy products, or to use the same utensils for both meat and dairy.

"Kosher." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition. 10 Oct. 2007 <http://www.library.eb.com.ezproxy.hclib.org/eb/article-9046106>.

"What is kosher salt?" Ask Yahoo. 2003. Yahoo. 10 Oct. 2007 <http://www.library.eb.com.ezproxy.hclib.org/eb/article-9046106%gt;.