Jews With Tattoos
The use of body art to express a connection with Judaism began on the fringe but is now moving toward the mainstream.
By The Forward and Ron Dicker Tags: Jewish World Israel newsCraig Dershowitz started with a Kabbalah Ladder on his back, then followed with the word ZION on his right forearm. His entire torso remains a mural in progress.
Marisa Kakoulas considers herself a Grecian urn, ready to be decorated. The suit she wears as an attorney conceals her black-ink tapestry, making her feel like a superhero, she said.
They are Jews with tattoos, a trend that began on the fringe and is moving toward the mainstream. Ink-wearing Jews are not as omnipresent as in some other groups, given the proliferation of tattoos in sports and the entertainment industry, but their numbers are increasing, according to tattoo wearers, artists and the rabbis who bear witness to the branding of their flock.
Joshua Andrews, operator of hebrewtattoo.net, an online catalog of Jewish body-art samples, said he receives 35,000 visits a month to his Web site and 50 personalized design requests monthly. Yoni Zilber, an Israeli tattoo artist in Brooklyn, said he gets a customer asking for Jewish-themed adornment at least once every few weeks.
Pride, aesthetics and rebellion all play a part. To these inked-up believers, the Leviticus exhortation to "not make 20 gashes in your flesh for the dead nor incise any marks on yourself" has lost its relevance in 21st century Judaism.
"There are a number of taboos that I believe restrict modern American Jews," Dershowitz said. "I am excited to break these taboos and to show a New York Jew as a strong, creative, artistic individual who is not afraid to wear his religion and beliefs, quite literally, on his sleeve."
Dershowitz, a 32-year-old Morgan Stanley alum who edits a tattoo magazine called Bombin', stood on the balcony of his 15th floor apartment with Manhattan at his feet and a tableau of an ancient past draping his upper body. Mother Israel grows out of the earth on his chest. Archangel Michael protects a kibbutznik and a soldier. On his right arm, the Lions of Judah play bodyguards to King Solomon.
The artwork does not bolster his connection to Judaism, he emphasizes; rather it forces others to recognize it.
"The permanence of a tattoo can only, rarely, be reversed," he said. "At the same time, the passion which motivated getting it cannot be reversed at all. My family and friends, forced by either the former or the latter, have no choice but to accept."
For the 36-year-old Kakoulas, an international-law specialist who lives in Brooklyn, her tattoos are a canvas of patterns that chart her world travels. "It's not about making a statement," she declared. "It's about beauty."
Eric Silver, a Penn State University sociology professor who has written about tattoos, attributes the increase in the practice among Jews to a larger social movement. "Tattoos have become normal among adults, and Jews come in a lot of flavors," he said. "There's a big chunk that are pretty assimilation-minded and want to participate fully in mainstream culture."
But for many, the Torah still holds sway.
"Tattoos are just incompatible with Jewish values," said Rabbi Brian Schuldenfrei of the Conservative Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. "We see the body as a holy and beautiful vessel, created by God. A tattoo only takes away from that divine beauty. So, we dismiss the practice of tattoos - but must remember not to reject the person with tattoos."
Rabbi Eric Siroka of the Reform Temple Beth-El in South Bend, Ind., preached acceptance for the growing number of tattooed Jewish youth. "They're wearing it the same as they would clothing or jewelry," he said. "You have to be respectful as you would with any part of a person's expression."
And then there is Andrews, who appears to straddle both sides of the argument. Despite running the tattoo Web site, Andrews has no tattoos himself and declines to tattoo Jewish clients because it is "not Judaic in any capacity," he said. "I get enough business from Goyim that I do not need Jewish business." (He draws designs for everyone, but Jewish customers must go to another artist for the hands-on work.)
Andrews began the Hebrew calligraphy Web site on a lark and discovered a market, he said. He credits a recent spike in visitors to the his-and-hers King Solomon quote worn by David and Victoria Beckham. The words etched in Hebrew translate to "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."Zilber said most of his Jewish customers focus on religious themes and Hebrew lettering. As for his own body, the artist wears Tibet-inspired tats. ("I'm Jewish in the inside," he explained.)
Although cultural mores have loosened for modern Jews - "the shock value has worn off," Rabbi Siroka said - the decision to get a tattoo does not always come easily.
Will, an artist at a tattoo parlor in Greenwich Village where some customers have been ordering the Star of David, recalled a recent encounter. "One older guy... thought about it for a long time," he said. "He was conflicted." The man eventually got the tattoo, as do most of those who waver, the artist said.
There has long been controversy about whether having a tattoo prevents a Jew from being buried in a Jewish cemetery, though a spokesman for the Jewish Theological Seminary said scholars there have found no basis for this ban. Siroka called it "an old wives' tale," and some cemetery officials supported him.
"Internment sites here have to do with lineage of Jewish heritage," said Kirk Taylor, the family service manager for Hillcrest Memorial Park's Beit Olam Cemetery in Dallas. "... It has nothing to do with anything else."
"We have a great amount of bodies coming in," said Amber Hession, who answers the phone at Westlawn in Chicago. "I'm sure some have tattoos."The idea that tattoos dishonor Holocaust victims tattooed by the Nazis no longer resonates with many.
"The Holocaust wasn't done with choice, and it was only to number people," Zilber said. "I never get the association with the Holocaust and tattoos."
With history and disapproval getting swept away, ink converts predict more of the faithful will visit tattoo parlors. And they'll mean business.Said Kakoulas: "We have not seen the saturation point."
Ron Dicker is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn.
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Tattoos are a mark of disrespect to Holocaust victims who were tattooed precisely because it is forbidden by Jewish law and custom. It is very sad that this no longer has any meaning for younger Jews today. Tattooing a Jewish symbol does not lessen the shame of having oneself tattooed.
Personally, I find tattoos to be highly offensive and disgusting no matter the color, creed, religion, or gender of the person. As a conservative Jew, I find it to be a violation of Jewish law to lay marks upon our bodies. Maybe, the fresh memory of the Germans putting tattoos on the Jewish forearms made me jaded--including the one that's still on my mother's, courtesy of Hitler via Auschwitz.
your words paint an accurate picture of a Jew growing up not in a traditional world, but one full of half truths, partial ideas, and questionable sources. If you want goish symbols, you can add more jewish themes to your body. If you want to be honest and improve your JewIQ beyond that of a religious 5 year old, note that educated Jews wear a kipah, zizit, attitudes and mizvot that when performed demonstrate to the world that you are a Jew- all the rest is on the surface- no depth. If you are young and honest and open to grow, you have time to join the ranks!
It's against Jewish law, period.
Finally some sense from a fellow tattooed Jew like myself. I am a solicitor well educated and considerate to others. I am hardly at the bottom of the human race and my observance to G-d is as strong as any Jew on the planet. If my crime is living in a modern world and having a tattoo then im afraid the sorry ones are the ones far too quick to judge others.
Those are nice sentiments. However, our guidebook for how to be a better Jew is the Torah, which clearly says that a tatoo is forbidden. You are not "less Jewish" because you sport a tatoo, you are simply violating (perhaps unintentionally, and perhaps with good intentions) what is written in the Torah.
I am Jewish and I do have several tattoos, including a "Chai" I resent the notion that I'm somehow less of a Jew because I have tattoos. Yes I was born and raised in assimilated American society. Just because I have ink under my skin does not take away my belief in Tzedaka and Tikkun Olam. I strive to be a better person and to do mitzvot, my tattoos are to remind me of who I am and where I come from, and so that others may see what path in life I have chosen.
Germans tatooed us en mass during the holocaust with serial numbers. There are some things worth keeping. I would suggest Jews not tatoo as an act of solidarity to the holocaust and as a Jewish custom and law still worth preserving.
Here is one man's opinion: How many physicians, attorneys and Ph.D.s do you know with tattoos? Regardless of their popularity, only a small percentage of the well educated population actually get tattoos. One of the attractive aspects of Jews, is that despite the current tattoo fashion, most have resisted. There are many other ways to make one's appearance unique or attractive. Tattoos are not required. The presence of a tattoo carries a message that the individual is less intelligent, and lacks the ability to be forward thinking. A young person with a tattoo clearly has not considered how old that picture will look to him or her after 20 or 30 years, or that the fading, blending ink may well become an ugly regret as he/she ages.
the old law of not defiling the body may be "old" but it is relevant. You see the law also applies to not defiling through rape, disrespect for others bodies, and so on. If these"old laws" were upheld viz that bodies are sacred and to be respected, would there be Rwanda, Nazis, Bosnia, Darfur??
real identity comes from the heart and soul, not a tattoo.But then American Jews have been drifting, declining and failing as a community for years. Tattoos are pathetic as a panacea.
Tatoo's are against God's law. See the holly book!
When he dies we can make a wall peace with his skin.
The Torah strictly prohibits tattoos.It is a desecration of the human body.G-d gave us our bodies to respect and protect, NOT to desecrate and mutilate. Most people who have tattoos belong to the bottom-of-the-barrel of society.
I think these people are a bit simple-minded. To get the proper satisfaction from their mishugas, either they have to walk around half naked, showing off their Picassos, or, except they don't have the common-sense they should put their fantasy paintings on a Tee shirt, which will not only be a lot cheaper, but will not need highly expensive, and ultimately unreliable tattoo removals. And they'll be warmer.
Fortunately i am a loud proud Israeli Jew who has Israeli Flag with my name and Yisrael tatooed above and beaneath it on my right back shoulder. I am proud to have my country and beliefs tattooed on my body. When wearing a cut out vest in the summer i walk high and proud with my national flag flying high on my shoulder back without having to walk low and timid in case of persecution at the hands of christians or moslems that surround me. If they do not like it TOUGH if fellow Jews do not like me showing and being proud of who and what i am then TOUGH on them also. AM YISRAEL CHAI
Tattoos exists among people of all beliefs and religions, Jews dont have to be exempted! I personally dont like them though! They hide the divine beauty like the rabbi mentioned : )
My son is a good example of Jewish tattooing. When he was 18, he got an entire sleeve on his left arm, for which he paid with his own money. The sleeve includes a large Magen David. When I asked him why he did the left arm (he is left-hanmded, like me) his response was that he didn't want to tattoo his tefillin arm. I have no difficulty with his tattoos or piercings. He's a wonderful son, husband and father. And a good Jew.
I understand both your comments and agree. I try to prevent my 18 year old from getting a tattoo, sofar I succeeded, but who knows when.... People want to show off their tattoos, perhaps want to fit in, belong to certain groups when they are young, but when getting older/mature, they might regret. I know some of my friends regret their tattoos now. Although one friend had her lost child's name tattoed on her belly with a heart and a star, so she will always carry him with her, that I find very touching and personal. Otherwise I don't like tattoos on people. Last summer I was in a huge public swimming pool with my kids, and I was nearly the only mom without one and I intend to stay an "outsider".
John, your story sounds wonderful, having this dream and discovering your Jewish roots but I don't agree with the Jewish "law" not to have tattoos (although I don't have any, and neither am I Jewish). As many laws from many religions, many do not fit in the 21st century. We progressed since the stone age, since the days of Jezus of Nazareth, since the Middle Ages. New times, new rules. That is my opinion anyway.
One can justify just about anything, but tatoos are simply ways of showing off, getting attention and living a Me,Me,Me in your face lifestyle. Even a small flower tatooed on ones' ankle or shoulder demonstrates the inability for some to accept themselves they way they are- surface muck for the insecure.
It started in Israel in the 80's because of the nihilism of our involvement in Lebanon. Many guys started getting tattoos because they thought it'd bring them good luck. Others got the idea after they went to Goa and elsewhere after being 3-years in that hellhole and found them spiritual somehow. That's when the taboo on tattoos came to an end. Now everyone has them amongst the young people and most of them are crass, cheap and "mainstream." They all look like lower-class plebs. Maybe that's the prejudice of a British education but I could never imagine getting a tattoo; it's connotations with crude people is too great and eventually that will happen in Israel too. It's a fad that will fade but will be regretted by many. And I also can't do it because of the Holocaust. We were branded like animals. It doesn't matter if people do it out of choice now. And I'm not a 50-something. I'm a 20-something in case some were wondering.
When I was in the US Navy many years ago several of my friends and shipmates got tattoos. I would go along and consider joining in more than once. Something would hold me back. Once I had a dream and an old bearded man told me not to get a tattoo; "we shouldn't do that." he said. I am adopted and was raised a Catholic but left the religion as soon as I could. Three years ago I found out I had a Jewish Cohanim father. I really think the ancestors were telling me to avoid the temptation of tattoos. Think about it before you do it.