Opening Icebreaker: If your best friend could pick out a tattoo that fit you, what would they pick?
Opening activity: In chevruta-pairs, review the different denominational opinions on the question of tattoos. Each chevruta reviews two positions and shares with the group the arguments for/against and their own reflections on them (https://momentmag.com/are-tattoos-and-body-piercings-taboo/)
Links to the articles about tattoos today in the Jewish community:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/world/middleeast/with-tattoos-young-israelis-bear-holocaust-scars-of-relatives.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
- https://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views---blog/news-and-views/2018/10/04/jews-with-tattoos
- https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/fashion/17SKIN.html
The Bible, (Mis)translations, and Mixed Messages
The LORD said to him, “I promise, if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold vengeance shall be taken on him.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who met him should kill him.
What might this have to say about tattoos? What kinds of tattoos might be okay/permitted, if any? What is the function of tattoos here?
לֹ֣א תַקִּ֔פוּ פְּאַ֖ת רֹאשְׁכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֣א תַשְׁחִ֔ית אֵ֖ת פְּאַ֥ת זְקָנֶֽךָ׃ וְשֶׂ֣רֶט לָנֶ֗פֶשׁ לֹ֤א תִתְּנוּ֙ בִּבְשַׂרְכֶ֔ם וּכְתֹ֣בֶת קַֽעֲקַ֔ע לֹ֥א תִתְּנ֖וּ בָּכֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י ה'׃
You shall not round off the side-growth (pe'at) on your head, or destroy the side-growth (pe'at) of your beard.
You shall not make (titnu) gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise (titnu) any marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.
"You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead" - This was the practice of the Amorites (a general term for heathens) to make cuttings in their flesh when someone belonging to them died.
"Or incise any marks on yourselves" - i.e. a writing engraved (more lit., dug into) and sunk into the flesh and which can never be erased because it is pricked in with a needle and remains black forever.
This is the clearest law that may or may not prohibit tattoos, and not without qualification.
What are at least three different ways of reading this text? What is the text saying if it's read in prose vs. poetry/parallelism?
What are the legal ramifications of each of these readings?
1a. Prose: Two prohibitions.
1b. Prose: Name of God is specific prohibition (the 2nd or 2)
2. Poetry: Parallelism sugggests one prohibition, and it's against mourning ritual only
Which of these speaks to you, or doesn't speak to you on a personal level? Which is challenging?
Why are people getting tattoos?
The LORD said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: None shall defile himself for any [dead] person among his kin, except for the relatives that are closest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; also for a virgin sister, close to him because she has not married, for her he may defile himself. But he shall not defile himself as a kinsman by marriage, and so profane himself. They shall not shave smooth any part of their heads, or cut the side-growth of their beards, or make gashes in their flesh. They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the LORD’s offerings by fire, the food of their God, and so must be holy.
(1) You are children of the LORD your God. You shall not gash yourselves or shave the front of your heads because of the dead. (2) For you are a people consecrated to the LORD your God: the LORD your God chose you from among all other peoples on earth to be His treasured people.
כֹּה־אָמַ֨ר ה' עֹשֶׂ֛ךָ וְיֹצֶרְךָ֥ מִבֶּ֖טֶן יַעְזְרֶ֑ךָּ אַל־תִּירָא֙ עַבְדִּ֣י יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וִישֻׁר֖וּן בָּחַ֥רְתִּי בֽוֹ׃ כִּ֤י אֶצָּק־מַ֙יִם֙ עַל־צָמֵ֔א וְנֹזְלִ֖ים עַל־יַבָּשָׁ֑ה אֶצֹּ֤ק רוּחִי֙ עַל־זַרְעֶ֔ךָ וּבִרְכָתִ֖י עַל־צֶאֱצָאֶֽיךָ׃ וְצָמְח֖וּ בְּבֵ֣ין חָצִ֑יר כַּעֲרָבִ֖ים עַל־יִבְלֵי־מָֽיִם׃ זֶ֤ה יֹאמַר֙ לַֽה' אָ֔נִי וְזֶ֖ה יִקְרָ֣א בְשֵֽׁם־יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְזֶ֗ה יִכְתֹּ֤ב יָדוֹ֙ לַֽה' וּבְשֵׁ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל יְכַנֶּֽה׃ (פ) כֹּֽה־אָמַ֨ר ה' מֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְגֹאֲל֖וֹ ה' צְבָא֑וֹת אֲנִ֤י רִאשׁוֹן֙ וַאֲנִ֣י אַחֲר֔וֹן וּמִבַּלְעָדַ֖י אֵ֥ין אֱלֹקִֽים׃
Thus said the LORD, your Maker, Your Creator who has helped you since birth: Fear not, My servant Jacob, Jeshurun whom I have chosen, 3 Even as I pour water on thirsty soil, And rain upon dry ground, So will I pour My spirit on your offspring, My blessing upon your posterity. 4 And they shall sprout like grass, Like willows by watercourses. 5 One shall say, “I am the LORD’s,” Another shall use the name of “Jacob,” Another shall mark his arm “of the LORD” And adopt the name of “Israel.” 6 Thus said the LORD, the King of Israel, Their Redeemer, the LORD of Hosts: I am the first and I am the last, And there is no god but Me.
Compare the old and new JPS translations - how do they affect one's interpretation of this verse and one's position on tattoos?
(one says "on your hand" and one says "with your hand."
The Sages' Take
One who writes a tattoo in the skin of their fellow - both are obligated by the Torah. What is the specific case being discussed? When two people act intentionally, but if they did so accidentally, they are exempt (from penalty). If one does so accidentally, and one does so intentionally, the former is exempt while the later is obligated.
And one is only obligated when the tattoo is done with ink or blue for the purposes of idol worship.
If one peels their skin with a blade, they are exempt.
If one inscribes on their slave in order that they not run away, [the owner] is exempt.
One who cuts into their skin the names of the dead with their hand is exempt, and one who does so with a tool is obligated.
One who cuts into their skin for purposes of idol worship is obligated, whether done with their hand or with a tool.
(ו) הַכּוֹתֵב כְּתֹבֶת קַעֲקַע, כָּתַב וְלֹא קִעֲקַע, קִעֲקַע וְלֹא כָתַב, אֵינוֹ חַיָּב, עַד שֶׁיִּכְתֹּב וִיקַעֲקֵעַ בִּדְיוֹ וּבִכְחֹל וּבְכָל דָּבָר שֶׁהוּא רוֹשֵׁם. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יְהוּדָה מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, אֵינוֹ חַיָּב עַד שֶׁיִּכְתּוֹב שָׁם הַשֵּׁם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא יט) וּכְתֹבֶת קַעֲקַע לֹא תִתְּנוּ בָּכֶם אֲנִי ה':
(6) One who tatoos: If he writes without engraving, or he engraves without writing, he is not liable for lashes, until he writes and engraves with ink or pigment or anything that leaves an impression. Rebbi Shimon ben Yehudah said in the name of Rebbi Shimon [bar Yochai]: He is not liable until he writes a name [of idolatry] there. As it says (Vayikra 19): "Do not tatoo yourself, for I am G-d."
What do the Tosefta and the Mishnah have in common? Where do they differ?
What types of tattoos seem okay (from a biblical perspective), and which seem more problematic?
What would the different texts/opinions say about a snoopy tattoo vs God's name?
What about temporary tattoos? (see next source)
Does any of this feel incongruent with the verses we saw above?
מתני׳ הכותב כתובת קעקע כתב ולא קעקע קעקע ולא כתב אינו חייב עד שיכתוב ויקעקע בידו ובכחול ובכל דבר שהוא רושם ר"ש בן יהודה משום ר' שמעון אומר אינו חייב עד שיכתוב שם את השם שנאמר (ויקרא יט, כח) וכתובת קעקע לא תתנו בכם אני ה':
גמ׳ אמר ליה רב אחא בריה דרבא לרב אשי עד דיכתוב אני ה' ממש אמר ליה לא כדתני בר קפרא אינו חייב עד שיכתוב שם עבודת כוכבים שנאמר וכתובת קעקע לא תתנו בכם אני ה' אני ה' ולא אחר:
MISHNA: One who imprints a tattoo, by inserting a dye into recesses carved in the skin, is also liable to receive lashes. If one imprinted on the skin with a dye but did not carve the skin, or if one carved the skin but did not imprint the tattoo by adding a dye, he is not liable; he is not liable until he imprints and carves the skin, with ink, or with kohl [keḥol], or with any substance that marks. Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda says in the name of Rabbi Shimon: He is liable only if he writes the name there, as it is stated: “And a tattoo inscription you shall not place upon you, I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28).
GEMARA: Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said to Rav Ashi: Is Rabbi Shimon saying that one is liable only if he actually inscribes the words “I am the Lord” in his skin? Rav Ashi said to him: No, he is saying as bar Kappara teaches: One is liable only if he inscribes a name of an object of idol worship, as it is stated: “And a tattoo inscription you shall not place upon you, I am the Lord,” which means: Do not place an idolatrous name on your skin, as I am the Lord, and no one else.
(יא) כתובת קעקע האמורה בתורה הוא שישרט על בשרו וימלא מקום השריטה כחול או דיו או שאר צבעונים הרושמים. וזה היה מנהג העכו"ם שרושמין עצמן לעבודת כוכבים כלומר שהוא עבד מכור לה ומורשם לעבודתה. ומעת שירשום באחד מדברים הרושמין אחר שישרוט באי זה מקום מן הגוף בין איש בין אשה לוקה. כתב ולא רשם בצבע או שרשם בצבע ולא כתב בשריטה פטור עד שיכתוב ויקעקע שנאמר "וכתובת קעקע."
(11) The incised writing that is spoken of in the Torah is cutting the flesh and filling it with blue or ink or other dyes.This was the custom of the idolaters, to mark themselves for idolatry, that is to say he is a slave sold to it and denoted for service. And once a man or woman marks themselves in any place on the body he is lashed. If one wrote but did not mark with dye, or he marked with dye and did not write with scratching he is exempt until he writes and engraves as it says, “writes and engraves”(Leviticus 19:28)."
Rabbi Rochelle Tulik understands the translation to be as following:
"Do not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, and this written imprint do not put on yourselves: "I am Ad-nai"
Our Bodies, Our Shells
Rabbi Alan Lucas, Jewish Committee on Laws and Standards (Rabbinical Assembly of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
In our day, the prohibition against all forms of tattooing regardless of their intent, should be maintained. In addition to the fact that Judaism has a long history of distaste for tattoos, tattooing becomes even more distasteful in a contemporary secular society that is constantly challenging the Jewish concept that we are created b’tzelem Elokim (in the image of G-d) and that our bodies are to be viewed as a precious gift on loan from G-d, to be entrusted into our care and [are] not our personal property to do with as we choose. Voluntary tattooing even if not done for idolatrous purposes expresses a negation of this fundamental Jewish perspective.
...there is no basis for restricting burial to Jews who violate this prohibition or even limiting their participation in synagogue ritual. The fact that someone may have violated the laws of kashrut at some point in his or her life or violated the laws of Shabbat would not merit such sanctions; the prohibition against tattooing is certainly no worse. It is only because of the permanent nature of the tattoo that the transgression is still visible.
What do you think of his arguments? How do they sit with you?
If you could respond to Rabbi Lucas, what would you say?
Seeing that it is part of revering the Lord and honouring Him not to desecrate our own bodies which He sanctified to enable us to serve Him, the Torah begins with a list of prohibitions designed to emphasise this point. לא תקיפו, we must not desecrate our heads by removing its hair as is the custom of gentile clergy or fools and drunkards. Neither are we to shave off the beard which represents man’s dignity, הדרת פנים שלו, “Shabbat 152. Neither are we to make incisions on our skin, something that is customary amongst pagans as an expression of their grief for family members who have died. Excessive mourning of this kind could be interpreted as questioning G’d Who allowed the departed to die. The same applies to a well known method of tattooing one’s skin with indelible ink below the skin, a permanent defacing of one’s body, described as כתובת קעקע. The only “improvements” to our G’d given body we are to make is the sign of the covenant, i.e. the removal of the foreskin of our males. Allowing or encouraging one’s unmarried daughter to devote her life to one of harlotry is a major desecration of one’s purpose on earth. Not only does the daughter desecrate the name of G’d by doing so, but she also desecrates the image of her father and all that he stands for. The death penalty by burning is decreed for such conduct under certain conditions in Leviticus 21,9.