# Judaism and tattoos. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019 "2004-11-16T06:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/1 "2004-11-16T06:31:33Z")
I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a Judaism-themed tattoo for a few years now, but have always thought that it was a pretty severe restriction under Jewish law. My roomate sent me [this article](http://www.bmezine.com/news/guest/20040819.html) though. Basically, it says that that tattoos are ok. Do any of our more knowledgable Jewish dopers have a take on this? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![RayMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/2 "2004-11-16T06:45:46Z")
I am not Jewish, but I do read the Bible. The following quote is taken from the book of Leviticus, chapter 19 verse 28 (New International Version): > [@](#): > > Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD. That seems pretty definitive to me. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/3 "2004-11-16T07:45:29Z")
> [@Johnny Bravo](#): > > I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a Judaism-themed tattoo for a few years now, but have always thought that it was a pretty severe restriction under Jewish law. My roomate sent me [this article](http://www.bmezine.com/news/guest/20040819.html) though. > > Basically, it says that that tattoos are ok. Do any of our more knowledgable Jewish dopers have a take on this? Thanks in advance. I’ve never heard an orthodox or conservative rabbi say that getting tattooed was OK. See [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/daily\_life/TheBody/Adorning\_the\_Body/Tattoo.htm](http://www.myjewishlearning.com/daily_life/TheBody/Adorning_the_Body/Tattoo.htm) ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/4 "2004-11-16T08:09:39Z")
Growing up I was always told by my rabbi (reform) that you can’t be buried in a Jewish cemetary if you have tatoos. Another friend, however, had a Rabbi who **had** a tat. All in all… I guess it depends on which splinter group you belong to. Orthodox? You’re probably screwed. Conservative? Again, probably but not definitely screwed. Reform? Up in the air. Reconstructionist? I kinda doubt it’d be a major problem. Then again, I won’t care what happens to the meat-which-was-me after “I” no longer exist anyways… hope you figure something out. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/5 "2004-11-16T14:31:22Z")
Definitively speaking, according to Orthodox and Conservative Jewish law, it is forbidden for a Jew to get a tattoo, whether it is Judaically themed or not. The common assumption that one who has a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery is a myth. While getting a tattoo is forbidden, if one has it done, one is not barred from being buried in a Jewish cemetery. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/6 "2004-11-16T14:47:22Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > The common assumption that one who has a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery is a myth. While getting a tattoo is forbidden, if one has it done, one is not barred from being buried in a Jewish cemetery. So is there a fine? A penance? G-d doesn’t like you anymore? What are the consequences, if any? ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/7 "2004-11-16T14:58:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > So is there a fine? A penance? G-d doesn’t like you anymore? What are the consequences, if any? The consequences are pretty much the same as for eating non-kosher or hitching your mule and horse up to the same plow. You are in violation of a _lav_ (negative commandment… “Thou shalt not…”) and must repent for the sin just as any other. Zev Steinhardt ---
**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:** [November 16, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/8 "2004-11-16T15:05:36Z")
To expand on Zev’s answer…if the tatooer lived in the time of the Sanhedrin, he’d be liable to get whipped thirty-nine lashes, which is true of all other low-severity negative commandments (high-severity ones would include defiling Temple/sacrificial holiness, illicit sexual relations, and doing prohibited work on the Sabbath). In this day and age, there is no Jewish authority that has punitive power, so it’s a matter between the tatooer and G-d. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/9 "2004-11-16T15:08:00Z")
Thinking of the millions of Jewish holocaust victims who had numbers tatooed on their arms in the death camps. I would have hoped that God made an exception in their case. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/10 "2004-11-16T15:23:56Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > Thinking of the millions of Jewish holocaust victims who had numbers tatooed on their arms in the death camps. I would have hoped that God made an exception in their case. ☹ There is a general rule in Jewish law that one who is forced to do something is not culpable for the act. For example, if someone were to ram pork down a Jew’s throat, the Jew would not be liable for the act of eating non-kosher food - he was forced. The very same would apply to Holocaust victims who had numbers forcibly tattooed on their arms. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/11 "2004-11-16T16:04:31Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > or hitching your mule and horse up to the same plow. I’ve totally missed this restricition in the past. Can you give me a full quote for this or a passage so I can look it up myself? I’m not doubting you, just curious. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/12 "2004-11-16T16:37:30Z")
> [@Tastes of Chocolate](#): > > I’ve totally missed this restricition in the past. Can you give me a full quote for this or a passage so I can look it up myself? I’m not doubting you, just curious. Duet 22:10. Zev Steinhardt ---
**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:** [November 16, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/13 "2004-11-16T16:48:21Z")
By the way, I should also mention that the link in the OP is not only wrong about tattoos, it also is incorrect in stating that cosmetic surgery, such as elective rhinoplasty, is permitted by Jewish law. While a Rabbi might, on an individual basis, allow certain people to have reconstructive surgery that is of a non-medical nature (e.g., breast implants for a woman who had a mastectomy), there is no blanket permission (it depends very much on a number of factors that must be evaluated on a patient-by-patient basis), and certainly not for purely cosmetic purposes. The overall attitude of Jewish Law (at least from the Orthodox perspective) toward the human body is that it belongs to G-d and we are only borrowing it, and as such, we have an obligation to not alter it except as explicitly commanded by G-d (i.e., circumcision) or except as necessary to protect the functionality of the body as a whole (i.e., non-elective surgery). ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/14 "2004-11-16T19:35:57Z")
So you’re telling me that all those nice jewish girls my mom wanted me to marry who had nose jobs are on the outs with the big guy… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/15 "2004-11-16T20:03:05Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > The consequences are pretty much the same as for eating non-kosher or hitching your mule and horse up to the same plow. That’s pretty much what I figured the answer would be. While I’m not the most observant Jew, it always seemed extra-wrong to violate the law with a Jewish-themed tattoo. Appreciated, guys. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/16 "2004-11-16T20:09:41Z")
Johnny Bravo: If you wish to express yourself by wearing a Judaic symbol on your body, artistic T-Shirts work quite well. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/17 "2004-11-16T20:17:59Z")
> [@Johnny Bravo](#): > > That’s pretty much what I figured the answer would be. While I’m not the most observant Jew, it always seemed extra-wrong to violate the law with a Jewish-themed tattoo. This reminds me, of course, of the not-so-recent news item of Brittney Spears getting a tattoo of God’s name placed on her neck. :smack: I’ve also heard reports that it was done backwards by mistake (although I haven’t seen it to confirm it one way or the other). Yes, I’m aware that, not being Jewish, Ms. Spears is free to get tattoos whereever she wants. I just found it odd that she would be doing so because of her attachment to “Kabbalah” and Judaism :rolleyes: Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/18 "2004-11-17T12:39:48Z")
Spears has an ‘attachment’ to Judaism? Guys! First Madonna, now this! We’re gonna have ALL the hot babes soon! Woot! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judaism-and-tattoos/275019/19 "2004-11-17T14:56:55Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Spears has an ‘attachment’ to Judaism? > > Guys! First Madonna, now this! We’re gonna have ALL the hot babes soon! Woot! I will remind you thayt Lady Chance is _goyishe_. As am I. 😛