Q&A: Tattooing Nowadays
Tattooing Nowadays
Question
Honored Rabbi, greetings and blessings.
I wanted to ask the Rabbi’s halakhic opinion regarding getting a tattoo nowadays.
When this is discussed among people who observe Torah and commandments, the instinctive response is of course, “You shall not place a tattoo upon yourselves; I am the Lord” — after all, it is stated explicitly that this is forbidden by the Torah.
However, when one examines the issue a bit, one sees that in the Talmud the Sages said, according to Rabbi Shimon, that the prohibition only applies when one writes the name of an idol. And in the book Taharat HaBayit (vol. 3, laws of interposition, Mishmeret HaTaharah, section 10), it is brought that this is how the Rif, Maimonides, and the Rosh ruled in Jewish law. And the Arukh LaNer wrote that according to Maimonides and those who agree with him, it is possible that there is not even a rabbinic prohibition when one does not do so for the sake of idolatry.
So I wanted to know the Rabbi’s opinion on this. Since nowadays there is no connection at all between tattoos and idolatry, at least not in the modern part of the world. And if the matter is permitted, are there certain cumulative conditions under which it would be allowed?
Answer
Indeed, according to the Talmud in Makkot 21, it sounds like the prohibition is only for a tattoo connected to idolatry. But later there they forbade even putting ash on a wound, because it resembles tattooing. You can see that at least rabbinically, every tattoo is forbidden. From Rabbeinu Yehonatan ben Avraham there it seems that this is Torah-level, just that one does not receive lashes. I did not check the sources you cited (Arukh LaNer), but that view is untenable in light of the Talmud there. And certainly it does not depend on intention. The discussion is only about the content of what is written, not the purpose of the tattoo.