Back to Question of the Week Back to Archives Q: Since Judaism is a growing and changing faith and you stated (in response to a question on Tattooing and Ear-Piercing) that : "Ear-piercing is "socially acceptable" and even expected in the society in which we live." As Tattooing becomes more acceptable and is not restricted to out-law bikers and hoodlums, will Judaism's view on Tattooing change as well? It can be said that a tattoo of "MOM" could be a form of mini-idolatry (or an extension of the Oedipal complex) or that certain popular tattoo's such as the chinese yin-yang are forbidden, but a butterfly or a flower? Brian
		A: First, to address your question about social acceptance of tattoos and eventual Jewish acceptance. If I had to guess, I'd say that, given the somewhat weak halakhic basis for a complete ban on tattoos, and if tattooing becomes mainstream, liberal Judaism will accept it, but with restrictions on content. But I would add two caveats. First, Judaism, even liberal Judaism, doesn't always accept everything that the general culture does. For example, normative Judaism of every denomination continues to view certain forms of speech about others as harmful and forbidden, even while the general culture considers them innocuous and even expected. Second, I suspect that the reason ear-piercing is socially and Jewishly acceptable, is that it is historically something done to women's bodies that gives pleasure to men. Since I find that reasoning sexist and even idolatrous, I would tend to be more strict about ear-piercing rather than more lenient with tattoos. With regard to your second point about which images would be considered idolatrous, ("mom" versus a flower), I'm not sure that I agree. Raising the status of any particular piece of God's universe high enough seems to border on idolatry. I guess the question is, how high of a status are we giving to a flower if we have it permanently etched into our skin? written by Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz
		last update: August 1999 Got a question for Reb on the Web? Visit our Archived Questions SHOOT*! ("SHOOT" is the Hebrew acronym for SHe'elot OOTeshuvot (Questions and Answers), the centuries-old dialogue between Jews and their rabbis.)

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