Whois & Analysis for ou.org

Not to be confused with Union of Orthodox Rabbis, a distinct Haredi rabbinical group.

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (UOJCA), more popularly known as the Orthodox Union (OU), is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States.

It is best known for its kosher certification service.

Its circled-U symbol, Ⓤ, a hechsher mark, is found on the labels of many kosher commercial and consumer food products.

The Torah ("instruction, teaching") is the central reference of Judaism.

It has a range of meanings.

It can most specifically mean the first five books (Pentateuch) of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries (').

The term "Torah" means instruction and offers a way of life for those who follow it; it can mean the continued narrative from Book of Genesis to the end of the Tanakh, and it can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture and practice.

Common to all these meanings, Torah consists of the origin of Jewish peoplehood: their call into being by God, their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which involves following a way of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws (').

Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or Yamim Tovim ("Good Days", or singular Yom Tov, in transliterated Hebrew), are holidays observed in Judaism and by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar and include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from three sources: Biblical mitzvot ("commandments"); rabbinic mandates; Jewish history and the history of the State of Israel.

Orthodox Judaism is the approach to religious Judaism which subscribes to a tradition of mass revelation and adheres to the interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Tannaim and Amoraim.

Orthodox Judaism includes movements such as Modern Orthodox Judaism (אורתודוקסיה מודרנית) and Ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Judaism (יהדות חרדית).

Kosher foods are those that conform to the regulations of kashrut (Jewish dietary law).

Food that may be consumed according to halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér, meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption).

Food that is not in accordance with Jewish law is called treif (derived from trāfáh) meaning "torn.".