# Jews can't get tattoos? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744 "2008-07-16T20:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/1 "2008-07-16T20:48:39Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/2 "2008-07-16T20:54:40Z")
From Leviticus 19: > [@](#): > > 28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/3 "2008-07-16T21:03:25Z")
> [@](#): > > 28 **Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead** , nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. Was this a common thing back then? Did people notch themselves for each relative that kicked off? [Here’s some of what hillel.org has to say about jewtoos.](http://www.hillel.org/about/news/2007/jan/tattoos_19Jan07.htm): > [@](#): > > The biblical verse, “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28) is the foundational text upon which later Rabbinic scholars developed the prohibitions against tattooing. Rabbinic law clarifies the biblical statute and states that only tattoos of a permanent nature are considered impermissible. > [bris] > It is a popular myth that a Jewish person who has a tattoo is not permitted to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Despite the prohibition, there is absolutely no legal justification to prevent a person with a tattoo from receiving a Jewish burial. Interestingly, tattoos are unique in the sense that evidence of the transgression remains on the body after death. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/4 "2008-07-16T21:11:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/5 "2008-07-16T21:19:51Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Was this a common thing back then? Did people notch themselves for each relative that kicked off? [/QUOTE] Here’s a [website](http://www.religioustattoos.net/Bible_Support/index.php#leviticus) 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. > [@](#): > > Leviticus 19:26-31 deals with pagan practices and God’s prohibitions against adopting those practices. In verse 28, God is warning the Jewish people about a pagan practice at funerals, where pagans would mutilate/mark themselves to appease their false gods. The pagans hoped that by cutting themselves and marking images/symbols of idols on their bodies, that they would obtain favour in the afterlife from their false gods, both for themselves and for those who just died. > > _See the Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible, the New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible, the Adam Clarke Commentary, and the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible for more detailed analysis._ > > As no one with a Christian tattoo is trying to pacify a pagan deity, it is safe to say this verse is not relevant to us. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/6 "2008-07-16T21:38:24Z")
friedo: > [@](#): > > I don’t recall what the consensus is on piercings. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/7 "2008-07-16T21:44:56Z")
I would imagine they’d look the other way on Holocaust survivors. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/8 "2008-07-16T21:47:12Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] I would imagine they’d look the other way on Holocaust survivors. [/QUOTE] IIRC, most Jewish prohibitions revolve around _voluntary_ actions. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/9 "2008-07-16T21:48:55Z")
ALL Jewish prohibitions revolve around voluntary actions. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/10 "2008-07-16T21:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Jews can’t get tattoos? Really? Okay…I can’t have been the _only_ Doper to see this & think: Dr Seuss. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/11 "2008-07-16T21:52:36Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] ALL Jewish prohibitions revolve around voluntary actions. [/QUOTE] 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). ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/12 "2008-07-16T21:54:09Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] ALL Jewish prohibitions revolve around voluntary actions. [/QUOTE] 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… ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/13 "2008-07-16T21:55:15Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Okay…I can’t have been the _only_ Doper to see this & think: Dr Seuss. [/QUOTE] That’s F\*\*king funny! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/14 "2008-07-16T22:02:31Z")
Sophistry and Illusion: > [@](#): > > 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). 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. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/15 "2008-07-16T22:11:27Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] 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. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/16 "2008-07-16T22:41:34Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/17 "2008-07-16T22:55:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/18 "2008-07-16T23:11:28Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/19 "2008-07-16T23:27:12Z")
[QUOTE=Omegaman] 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. [/QUOTE] OOPS! Should have said, priveledged to be a martyr. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744/20 "2008-07-16T23:32:43Z")
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? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-cant-get-tattoos-really/456744.md?page=2)