Kosher = Jewish dietry laws. We don't eat:

1) milk and meat together, so we have seperate dishes and cooking utensils (and dishwashers) for when we have meat meals and when i make anything with milk, cheese and a milk derivative. I also wait 6 hours after eating meat before i eat milk (no dairy icecream after a burger).

2) We don't eat certain foods:
-meats like pork (anything that doesn't chew its cuds and has split hoofs),
- no seafood other than some types of fish (anything that has scales & fins)
- no insects (certain food colourings & preseratives) and we wash & check all our veggies & fruit.

Because we want to make sure that what we are buying doesn't have anything in it that we can't eat in eat, normally you buy food that has a special stamp to say it was supervised by a rabbi (you will see similar stamps on food for Halal). There is also a list where they contact the companies and ask them for every single ingredient to work out whether it is kosher or not, but this is in some ways a lower level of kosher as there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong and slip in the food. We only buy food that has the stamp on it, and even then only from certain rabbi's. We buy some from a big rabbi in Melbourne, but a lot of kosher food is imported from England, USA & Israel. We will only eat in kosher restarants.

A lot of non Jewish people perceive it as cleaner & healthier and eat kosher only also. In fact, in the USA kosher market, non-Jewish kosher eaters are the biggest growth area. Vegeterians also like it as all food is clearly labelled if it has any meat or deriviates, milk or in vegan (although be careful about this, because kosher pareve doesn't acutally mean vegan, it means no meat or milk, but can contain fish which isn't considered a meat).

Shabbat - Jewish Sabbath. Occurs from Sunset on Friday to Dark on Saturday night (around 25hours). We don't do various activities, mainly using electricity, and cooking food. You turn on the lights (or put on a timer) what you will need, and all food is made beforehand. You don't drive you car, use a phone, watch TV (if you own one anyway).... I know we sound kinda Amish, but you can live a very normal day. Its a big time for family & friends and most people have big meals on Friday night and Saturday lunch. And for going to synagogue, although my husband goes 3 times a day every day, the service on Saturday morning is longer & you do more stuff (read the Torah etc). Women also go, its just hard with the babies, but i normally walk down for the end and they also have a buffet with lots and lots of little nibbles and great cakes. Then people go home for their big meal.

Covering Hair - in Judaism this is only something you do once you get married. There are many reasons for it, a big long to go into now, but i hope my daughter will cover her hair once she gets married. Everybody does what they are comfortable with and what they are ready for, but according to Jewish law you should cover your hair if married, just like you should eat kosher.

HTH.