"Jewish" is a religion, those who follow Judaism. Anybody can join that religion.

There is also a Jewish ethnicity, nominally descended from the Semitic people who lived in what is now Israel about 2,000 years ago (and known as Judea at the time). They were displaced from there to the rest of Europe during the Roman occupation of Judea.

Many modern Jews trace their origins back there, and it's in that sense that Judaism is seen by some as a race. But anybody can join the religion, and Jews often intermarry with those native to the whatever region they're living in. So racially, Jews tend to be very similar to the other natives of the region, while maintaining some group identity through the religion.

As for "kosher"... it's the set of laws that tell Jews what they may and may not eat. It's given in the book of Leviticus (mostly chapter 11), with commentary and expansions over the centuries as the Jews encountered new kinds of food.

Orthodox Jews still follow the kosher laws in great detail, while some other Jews follow them less strictly or not at all. In part they exist as matters of safety which don't apply in today's more hygienic food supply, but they are also the commandments of God and a part of Jewish identity. Nearly all Jews keep at least a token of them, even if they don't otherwise follow the Kosher laws.
Source(s):
http://www.livius.org/di-dn/diaspora/rome.html
http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm

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