A Jewish friend of mine heard that, according to Jewish law, she couldn’t get a tattoo. True? She’d never heard that before, nor had I (non-Jewish). She’s not even particularly yearning to get a tattoo, truth be told, but wanted to know if it would be permissible for an observant Jew. What’s the straight dope?
From Leviticus 19:
Most observant Jews interpret this as a general prohibition against tattoos and other body modifications. I don’t recall what the consensus is on piercings.
Was this a common thing back then? Did people notch themselves for each relative that kicked off?
I had a Jewish girlfriend for a while who yearned to have a tattoo, but resisted the urge beause of the injunction in Leviticus. She also mentioned the exclusion of the tattooed from Jewish cemeteries (mentioned above) but it looks like that’s a myth.
Here’s a website that tries to answer that question. It’s told from a Christian perspective but I think, since it’s old testament, it’ll apply to Jewish beliefs, too.
friedo:
Both earrings and nose-rings seem to have been pretty common amongst the Biblical Israelites, so I don’t think that body piercing is included in the anti-tattoo injunction. The only things I can see being problematic is if a) a certain kind of piercing is specific to one sex, Jews of the other sex shouldn’t do it as per the prohibition of cross-dressing (by now, earrings on men might be so common that it’s not prohibited, but thirty years ago they might have been), b) a certain kind of piercing is associated with a different nation/religion, Jews shouldn’t do it as per the prohibition of imitating other peoples, or c) piercings in the genital region should not damage one’s reproductive abilities.
I would imagine they’d look the other way on Holocaust survivors.
IIRC, most Jewish prohibitions revolve around voluntary actions.
ALL Jewish prohibitions revolve around voluntary actions.
Okay…I can’t have been the only Doper to see this & think: Dr Seuss.
Really? What about the rule that you can’t enter the temple if your nuts are crushed (or whatever the rule is)? It reads like a blanket prohibition to me (although I can’t say I’m an OT scholar).
I suspected this but I knew the moment I said “all” some more knowledgeable doper would come in and give me an example where some exotic set of circumstances would in fact violate the word “All”.
…so I hedged…
That’s F**king funny!
Sophistry and Illusion:
But the guy with crushed nuts would only be considered as having violated the prohibition if he voluntarily entered the temple. If a pro wrestler picked him up and threw him (against his will) across the threshhold of the temple, he wouldn’t be held liable over it.
I guess that makes sense. But it doesn’t seem fair that if someone crushes your nuts against your will, you can’t enter the temple ever again.
If we’re talking unfair, I’d say it’s a damned shame that no one can enter the temple ever again.
As a matter of fact, I think what you’re referring to is actually a prohibition on getting married, not on entering the temple. I was going along with your example to illustrate what I meant by “voluntary.”
I’ll admit that doesn’t make it any more fair-sounding. In Judaism, there are any number of laws that people must obey based on circumstances beyond their control - their physical condition, their ancestry, their state of ritual purity. The “fairness” and “equal rights” paradigm that forms the basis of much modern western thought does not exist in the Jewish religion, where (according to its adherents) Divine revelation is the foundation. As long as one is obedient within his circumstances, G-d rewards him just the same.
That’s unfortunate. It seems your body is but a vessle to be used in this world.
How could one ever be expected to be a martyr?
I’d gladly burn mine to the ground.
OOPS! Should have said, priveledged to be a martyr. 
So all those movies, like The Last Temptation of Christ, showing Jewish women with tattoos all over their hands and legs… they’re wrong? Or was it common for Jews to ignore that particular Biblical law?