First off, this isn’t inspired by the Presidential race… more by the fact that I’m reading some articles by Walter Laqueur, plus the Bettie Page tat a non-oberservant Jewish friend of mine just got. It’s pretty bitchin.
Anyway, I’ve heard that tattoos are considered a desecration of the body, and getting one will exclude a person of the Jewish faith from burial in a Jewish cemetary. If so, does the prohibition include the “serial numbers” that some concentration camp victims recieved from the Nazis?
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*Originally posted by black455 *
I agree with douglips. I would assume that exclusion would not be the case, as the Jewish people of the Holocaust did not willfully tatoo themselves. Though I don’t know for sure, I would also think that any scaring from accidental stab wounds would be equally welcome to be buried in a Jewish cemetary.
black, there is an older GQ thread running around with the exact question in it. The answer is ‘no’.
I had thought that post-holocaust they let the desecration rule slide due to serial tattoos, but I was informed differently. Although my family cremates instead of buries, I’d hope that my religious tattoo(ok, and a few other tattoos too), wouldn’t exclude me from burial if I so chose.
Bah! I’ve searched and searched, but I can’t find it. Can somebody help?
Give a guy a chance to get to work, okay? Sheesh, impatience…
I’d have to concur that most likely, if it’s not by choice I’m sure it doesn’t disqualify one from burial. I should admit, though, that I wasn’t even aware before this thread that a tattoo does disqualify. Someone more knowledgeable about death and burial law/custom than myself (thank G-d, I’ve had very little experience in the area) would be necessary for a more definitive answer.
Just for reference, here are the biblical passages in question:
Leviticus
27: Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
28: Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
If you want a bible reference, just ask us atheists.
Don’t let this go to your head. Everyone knows that tatoos are forbidden. The question is if there is a rule that such a person cannot be given a Jewish burial. If everyone who ever sinned wasn’t given a Jewish burial there would be no one in these cemetaries.
The “rounding out” thing refers to making one’s hair like an even circle, by shaving off the sideburns, which are what is meant by “corners of the head.” This prohibition also includes shaving one’s self completely bald.
That’s why Hasidim have the extremely long sideburns, or “payos” in Hebrew (such as this: ;j), they take this commandment to the extreme. Other Orthodox Jews (myself included) do trim them; according to Jewish law, as long as they’re long enough to be grasped by the fingers and pulled, one has not violated the commandment.
I’ve never actually seen a cite that says Jewish burial is prohibited for those with tattoos… just heard it conversations with Jewish friends of mine who, are admittedly, Reform at best, and slackers at that.
Hmmmm… kind of makes me wonder if the burial thing is something made up by jewish kids who get tats to prove how badass they are. Kinda like a catholic kid who spits in the holy water…
I have definitely read in the past that tattoos imposed on one against one’s will are not regarded as violating halacha and thus do not preclude burial in a Jewish cemetary. I’m not immediately able to locate any Orthodox sources online to confirm this. In the meantime, there’s this, from a Reform perspective.
Rackensack’s link definitely indicates that there is a prohibition on Jewish burials for those who have voluntarily tatooed themselves, but that the Rabbi on the site, as a Reformista, has made his own decision as concerns enforcement.
On the flip side, IzzyR’s point is valid – why would this one violation of the Law be the thing to keep you outta the cemetery?
I heard about this years ago, in an article about Geraldo. He has a Star of David on his hand, and since he’s Jewish, I believe, he said he can’t be given a proper burial, or something like that.
Who knew?
There is a similar discussion on a mailing list at Project Genesis ( http://www.torah.org/learning/issues/tattoo.html ), that contains citations to the relevant halacha (which I am not competent to check, but sound reasonable). The upshot of the discussion is that a Jew with a voluntary tattoo would not be barred from burial in a Jewish cemetary on the presumption that he/she repented the sin before death.
However, that person might be barred from a section reserved for Sabbath observant (which in this case appears to serve as a proxy criterion for defining piety) Jews on the grounds that the pious and the wicked should not be buried next to each other.
Note that according to the discussion in the link above, the rules for suicides would be similar as the ones for tattooed individuals.
I was under the impression that ear piercing (of the lobe) is generally acceptable for women (I think basically because it such an ingrained custom that it would be too difficult to impose a prohibition), but is prohibited for men on the grounds that 1) certain kinds of ear piercing (of the cartilage?) were a sign of a slave in Biblical times, and 2) it qualifies as dressing like the opposite sex (which is prohibited–except on Purim, of course ;j).
It is more than possible that I am misremembering this, however.
Traditional Jewish law forbids tatoos, body piercings, and similar “art”, primarily on the grounds that the human body is sacred (made in the image of God) and should not be desecrated. Also, remember, that many pagan cultures scarred the body as an initiation/manhood rite, and those were viewed as disgusting by the Israelites.
The question of whether a body can be buried in a Jewish cemetary is more problematic. Certainly, involuntary scarring or tatooing would NOT preclude burial. Most modern-day Reform and Conservative would overlook most voluntary transgressions as well, primarily on the grounds of not upsetting the living relatives by such an arbitary decision. The “halakhic” grounds would be that the person was not of sound mind when they self-inflicted wounds, and thus the marking was really involuntary.
My experience has been that almost the only reason that someone is refused burial in a Jewish cemetary is if they aren’t Jewish.
I would not be surprised if the “you can’t be buried if you get a tatoo” was used by many parents to try to dissuade their wayward youngsters. However, I don’t think it has any basis in fact.
