The Jew and the Tattoo 

You shall not etch a tattoo on yourselves. I am the Lord. (Vayikra 19:28) 
 
Last week, I had the shock of my life.  

“Daddy.” 

“Yes, sweetie.” 

“I think I want to get a tattoo.” 

“No, you don’t.” 

“Yes, I do.” 

Knowing that, even at 12, I didn’t stand a chance against her, I tried a different approach. 

“What would you like a tattoo of?” 

“My favorite anime character.” 

“Just tell me something, what was your favorite character when you were 8?” 

“That’s easy, Twilight Sparkle.” 

“If you got a tattoo four years ago, then when you are 19 and all your friends are dressing in the latest fashions, scrubbed into your arm will be the main character from My Little Pony.” 

She was a little stunned.  

Baruch Hashem, I still got some moves.   

What’s Wrong with a Tattoo? 

Tattoos handcuff you to a moment in the past. No matter how much you grow throughout your life, a part of you will be forever frozen to the day you marked a part of your body with permanent ink.  

Every Rosh Hashanah, we are commanded to make repentance. Repentance is not just for our sins. It’s for all the ways we can improve on what we are already doing, but we don’t move forward with those improvements.  

Being paralyzed at one point makes perpetual movement a tough task. We always have to be inching forward, and this gets harder with a constant reminder of a moment etched in bone.   

What happens if you are into goth, and you get a demonic bat branded on your arm. Years later, you become observant and have to deal with how to put tefillin over it? 

What if you have a tattoo of a famous singer or TV star that we learn later on was a serial killer or sexual predator? Do you want that image etched in bone for the next half century? 

What if the TV star is clean, but the tattoo gets outdated, even embarrassing? In 1977, that Telly Savalas mark on your forearm was cool, but how does it look almost 50 years later to have Kojak accompany you wherever you go? 

A Tattoo is Anti-Jewish 

The reason why Israelis are so good at application development is that, as Jews, Hashem creates us to be in a state of continuous improvement.  

We are created in the image of Hashem, and He is constantly creating and recreating His world. It is up to us to constantly recreate ourselves.  

To be roped into a single moment goes against everything we are striving to build in this world.  

Even now, when it feels like everything is going the wrong way. Hashem commands us to brave on.  

In the face of all the sexual temptation invading our homes, our rooms, even our back pockets (smartphones), we are commanded to swim against the tsunami. 

In the face of all the lashon hara and praise that goes to whomever spat out the worst insult to Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, or Yair Lapid . . . Hashem commands us to be silent. At the end of the shemonei esrei we implore Hashem, My God, guard my tongue from evil. To resist the urge is growth – even if it is trying to walk into a sandstorm.  

In the face of all the despair as abomination after abomination is thrust into what’s considered “normal”, sticking to your guns to dress and act modestly and appropriately at all times is a huge leap forward, even if the world tells us we are jumping off a cliff.  

These are the extremes we are supposed to go in order to keep growing. To keep inching towards God and His Salvation of His World.  

A tattoo says you will always be the type of person who engraves Bugs Bunny on his shoulder.  

A Jew says otherwise because his Master tells him to.   
 

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, a high-tech center, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, the local camel. David’s Israeli startup, Center Stage Content, makes your business the star of the show with SEO optimized, ROI driven, easy to understand content.