Leviticus 19: “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.”
From the NY Times article saying that it’s an urban legend that the tattooed Jewish community can’t be barried in a Jewish Cemetery…
Rabbi Washofsky, “it’s unclear whether the passage strictly outlaws tattoos that refer to a god, or whether it generally condemns any personal adornment. Ear piercing, he added, is not controversial.”
Rabbi Alan Bright, a spokesman for the Jewish Funeral Directors of America, said that the Cemetery issue wasn’t true, but that tattoos weren’t acceptable, but that “The Torah prohibits anything negative that affects the body,” he said. “Smoking is more of a violation of Jewish law.”
The Jewish Blogs/Mags reacted to th NY Times post with some funny quotes
Jewish Hipster Site Heeb Magazine: said “we’re not big fans of the whole tattoo trend. It used to be that tattoos meant something—you’re in the service, you’re a sideshow attraction, or you’re easy. Now, tattoos don’t mean you’ve served your country, worked as a carny, or put out—all it means is that you’ve jumped on the bandwagon.”… I’m not sure who the “we” in this quote is, but it’s always interesting to read an article written by the collective.
Jewish Journal God’s Blog:“I’ve never been a fan of body art. I made this clear in Leviticus 19: You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.”… It’s good to know God’s opinion on religous topics
Tattoo Jew Movie:A movie discussing the controversy with the tattooed Jewish community.
Not sure if this tattoo is real, the line looks clearly fake, but who knows about the black box, but it’s pretty funny