hey so i have a kind of weird question. i was raised jewish and consider myself jewish, but i reeeally like tattoos and plan to get a few. would it be bad to get Chai (חי) tattooed over my heart or on my wrist?
That isn’t a weird question at all! It’s actually a major ongoing debate in the Jewish community.
But before we get any further, I’m sure the question “can I be buried in a Jewish cemetery with a tattoo?” possibly has crossed your mind! Although each burial society can make up their own rules, their is nothing inherently written in Jewish law prohibiting it. (Source)
So where did this rumor come from and why are tattoos in Judaism taboo? It derives from the line: “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.“ (Leviticus 19:28). This pasuk was written among other laws such as shaving and agricultural laws. The Mishneh Torah argues that it was to differentiate the ancient Israelite from Pagan neighbors. The Sifra (Halachic interpretation on Levicius) argues that this law only pertained to the kohanim (ritual priests). But many ancient and medieval scholars (and many contemporary ritually observant scholars) had negative opinions about Jewish tattoos.
But the most important scholar here is you, and how you use the text to understand the narrative (through the lens of other scholars).
For instance, my interpretation of this section of text (which is only my interpretation) is that it was inserted much later than during the time of Moses. These were laws to keep the community cohesive and ultimately to make their perception of God happy. I believe that this line is incredibly important for learning about ourselves, but I do not necessarily believe that it is banning tattoos in 2016, but rather a communal law for ancient Israel.
As Reform Jews, we believe that everyone can make choices based off of the information that they know. I invite you to dive deeper into this issue.
For instance, there is a wonderful understanding that one should only get a tattoo if it makes them feel whole, such as this incredible breast cancer survivor in this article. The author of *this* article, a rabbi from Texas, has the shema and v’ahavta tattood around his arm like t’fillin and has a very interesting point of view. And *this* is another fascinating understanding of a positive view on tattoos in Judaism from another rabbi.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to shoot me another ask!
