Hello,
On 10/4/2010, Corey asked
"Also, I ordered and received a shofar from Israel.  Included in the package was a free silver keychain.  There are doves, fish, and grapes on one side.  The other side has a large eye with a pretty blue stone in the middle of it.  Does anyone know what this could symbolize?"
 
Is this vaguely in the shape of a hand with the thumb and the pinky curled out, and three fingers sticking up with the eye in the middle?  If so, it is a Hamsa.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa.   A Hamsa can be found with all kinds of decorations nowadays, sometimes with other Hebrew words written on them or alongside them, and keychains are especially popular.  The Hamsa is a protective Judaic charm which is thought to ward off the 'evil eye'.  The 'evil eye' is a concept that has existed since the oldest civilizations, and still is very common today in several cultures and faiths.  The 'evil eye' is most commonly thought to be transmitted as a curse by people who are jealous or envious of others or other people's possessions (especially when looking upon children).  For more information on the 'evil eye', this article provides some good information:  http://www.luckymojo.com/evileye.html.
 
According to "The Evil Eye in the Bible and in Rabbinic Literature" by Rivka Ulmer, generally the Bible "uses the word eye to express emotions, intentions or wishes", and sometimes judgments.  This is a pretty good read to look at it from a biblical perspective:  http://books.google.com/books?id=cwB8Hfkjpx0C&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=bible+evil+eye&source=bl&ots=XQ6blihS8H&sig=dHW-n7t49PUTZsFWgj4PbVKOPsg&hl=en&ei=PdypTM_kDIa-sAPD5MzpDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
Some of the Jewish Talmud also contains some references to the Evil Eye:  "If a man on going into a town is afraid of the Evil Eye,²²  let him take the thumb of his right hand in his left hand and the thumb of his left hand in his right hand, and say: I, so-and-so, am of the seed of Joseph over which the evil eye has no power, as it says: Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain.²³  Do not read 'ale 'ayin [by a fountain] but 'ole 'ayin [overcoming the evil eye]. R. Jose b. R. Hanina derived it from here: And let them grow into a multitude [weyidgu] in the midst of the earth;²⁴  just as the fishes [dagim] in the sea are covered by the waters and the evil eye has no power over them so the evil eye has no power over the seed of Joseph.²⁵  If he is afraid of his own evil eye, he should look at the side of his left nostril."  (from http://www.come-and-hear.com/berakoth/berakoth_55.html)

The mano fica (fig hand) was also commonly used in ancient times to ward off the evil eye:  http://www.luckymojo.com/manofico.html
 
All of these expressions, including the Hamsa, are generally vulgar in nature.  They have a double meaning of both poking out the eye, and/or of inter course.
 
Take care,
Robert