NYT: Tattoos fit for Jews
The New York Times reports today that you shouldn't believe your grandmother: Tattoos are kosher everything your grandmother told you about tattoos:
Nearly every Jew, from those who go to synagogue only on holidays to those who dutifully follow Jewish law, has heard that adage. It has deterred many from being inked, even as tattoos have become widespread among N.B.A. players and housewives alike.According to a 2007 poll of 1,500 people conducted by the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds and 40 percent of 26- to 40-year-olds have at least one tattoo. Still, even Larry David was so haunted by the cemetery edict that he wrote an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in which he pays off a gravedigger to have his mother reburied in a Jewish cemetery despite a small tattoo on her behind.
But the edict isn't true. The eight rabbinical scholars interviewed for this article, from institutions like the Jewish Theological Seminary and Yeshiva University, said it's an urban legend. It was most likely started because a specific cemetery had a policy against tattoos. Jewish parents and grandparents picked up on it and over time, their distaste for tattoos was presented as scriptural doctrine.
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an ‘urban legend’? Really! How about giving out the name of that individual @ Yeshiva University since this prohibition is from the Torah…
As for the JTS rabbis, no problem --- to be expected.
Just think, prohibition from a cemetery is a bubba meisa! You REALLY
did your research on this, didn’t you…
B"HK
Actually, bubby is correct - according to our holy Torah b’yad Moshe (the Five Books of Moses), tatoos are forbidden for Jewish people, which is one reason the nazis relished doing it.
Also, a pierced ear in the Torah is the sign of a slave.
The part about not being able to be buried in a Jewish cemetary is urban legend, not the Torah prohibition against tattooing. This summary didn’t really make that point clear.
Leviticus 19:28 - “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor imprint any marks upon you: I am the LORD.” (1917 JPS translation)
I’ve always read this to be a prohibition against tattooing, scarification, or similar “mutilations”. In its context, it seems to be intended to set the Israelites apart from their neighbors in an easily visible manner. It may or may not have been intended by the author to be limited to mourning rituals.
Whether a failure to observe this commandment would exclude one from burial in a Jewish cemetery is another question. If so, would the failure to observe any or all of the commandments also exclude one from communal burial? Unlikely, as the cemeteries would be empty if that were the case.
But is it a valuable folk tradition? For those of us raised with it, I think so. To this day I’m repulsed by the sight of tattoos on folks who are not natives of Polynesia or Australasia. Their cultures elevate the practice. But as used in our (American) culture, they serve to announce to the world several unflattering things about the wearer:
1 - I am sure that my beliefs, tastes, and affections will never change, as long as I live. That is to say, “I am a fool.”
2 - I am such a slave to fashion and style that I will brand myself with symbols and icons whose true meanings may be unknown to me. That is to say, “I am a fool.”
3 - I am so in need of attention that I will disfigure myself so that others will take notice of me. That is to say, “Pity me....I’m such a fool.”
“But the edict isn’t true” according to our modern day scholars???? HaShem help us!! Please read Vayikra/ Leviticus 19:28....and you shall not place a tattoo writing . This is NOT some policy from an obscure cemetery , it is straight from the Torah!! It is from straight from The Creator of the Universe. Give me a break, even the non-Jews know this!
Has author Ami Eden recently opened a Tatoo Parlor? Is she giving MOTs discount? The only voluntary tatoo I can imaginge to be considered kosher is one that uses the Hebrew lettering for
“B’SAW-KOSHER” as displayed in the old Jewish neighborhood butcher shop window.
the torah clearly forbids tattoos. what this is all about is the false jewish messiah, a messiah of power shall come to the jews and demand that all take a mark in their forehead or in their hand. thus articles like this are to overcome the law of Gd in that Jew might accept this false messiah when he comes. any Jew who takes this mark will be be damned. all of the media promotes tattoos for the gentiles, but we jews know better. when a jew see a messiah who demands they mark themselves, then we know this will be from the devil. jews should study their torahs more.
I Am A Jew with A Hamsa tattoo. Its not for fashion or pity or you, It is A personal reminder of An event in my life, And when I see it in the mirror I Am influenced to try and live in the light of our creator. And if you dont like it DONT LOOK
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Rich
07/16/08 03:42 PM
Sadly, once again NYT is misguided and incorrect. While there are many different opinions on numerous aspects of Jewish Law - numerous Orthodox resources I researched clearly explain the prohibition on decorative tattoos.