Judaism

A general overview of Judaism as a whole--material comes from http://www.religioustolerance.org/jud_desc.htm

Judaism is the first of the Abrahamic religions, which hold Abraham as a Patriarch who made a divine covenant with God. God promised that Abraham's descendants would become a great people if they followed certain laws He set for them. Jewish scripture details the servitude of the Israelites in Egypt, their deliverance by the prophet Moses, and the eventual claiming and settlement of the Promised Land of Israel. The next centuries saw the construction of a great temple at Jerusalem, followed by the breakup of the Jewish state and the scattering of its people around the world.

God's commands and other teachings are laid out in the Tanakh ( corresponding to the Christian Old Testament), which contains the Torah and other books. A later work, the Talmud, holds the works of various rabbis and is also studied extensively by Jewish scholars.

The central beliefs of Judaism were laid out by a medieval-era rabbi named Moshe ben Maimon. His 13 Principles of Faith include belief in the words of the Prophets, the uniqueness of God, and the importance of the Torah, as well as the eventual coming of the Messiah and resurrection of the dead. Many branches of Judaism add or subtract from this list depending on their attitude towards the religion.

Practice of Judaism involves adherence to Jewish law in everyday life, observance of the Sabbath as a day of resting, attendance at a Synagogue, and celebration of the various Jewish holidays.

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism is a relatively modern movement designed to adapt traditional Jewish religion to be more relevant to the present day. All the central pieces of Judaism are there (faith in God and the Torah, etc.), but certain rules and beliefs have been modified to allow for some diversity in practicing the religion. Individual interpretations of the Torah and various Jewish customs are allowed. Women are considered equal to men in all aspects of Reform Judaism, and homosexuals are allowed to participate whereas they would be shunned from traditional Judaism. Reform Judaism is also more lenient about who is defined as a Jew--anyone raised as a Jew by at least one Jewish parent is considered a member of the faith. The philosophy of Reform Judaism is that religion must adapt and become more tolerant if it is to survive in the modern age, and that the spirit of Judaism is more important than the details of individual practices.

http://rj.org/whatisrj.shtml gives more info on Reform Judaism

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