But aren't tattoos a sin? Aren't you all going to hell?

I’m often asked the inevitable question: But aren’t tattoos forbidden? Isn’t it a sin to get tattooed? Aren’t you going to hell?

The short answer is yes, tattoos aren’t allowed in Jewish law.

A longer answer could possibly start with they are, but so is…

Tattoos are indeed prohibited in Jewish law. No ultra orthodox Jew would get a tattoo in any form, other than to save a life. But then, the prohibition on tattoos can be compared to other “minor” offenses. It’s not like driving on Shabbat or murdering someone, both punishable by death. It’s more like sha’atnez, the prohibition on combining different kinds of garments in one piece of cloth. Both of them are laws, but if you’re not ultra orthodox, I assume you don’t really know what the shirt you’re wearing at this very moment is made of. It just became a little irrelevant over the years. Still forbidden, but long forgotten.

So why does everyone know about tattoos and most of us have never even heard about sha’atnez? 

I think there are a few reasons. The holocaust is one of them. Being marked as the ultimate victim by being tattooed definitely didn’t add to tattoos being popular in Jewish families. Another reason is the permanence of tattoos. You can take off a shirt made of combined garments and get rid of your sin, but it’s hard to take off a tattoo. But then - you could say the same about piercings. And that, while prohibited as well, is less of an issue, even in relatively traditional families. 

A number from Auschwitz

After talking to literally thousands of Jews about their tattoos and their reasons to get one and often their reason to not get one, in the end, I feel the main reason is actually: social class.

Dangerous criminal. Not a client of mine. Believe me.

Tattoos were associated with the lowest classes for a very long time. Prisoners, sailors, mafia. And for immigrants, and hence for Jews as the ultimate eternal immigrant, social mobility is vital. You come to a new country, you start at the very bottom of society and work hard, so your kids will have a chance at climbing the social ladder and your grandkids will grow up in relative prosperity. That social mobility is much more present in the life of an immigrant in New York than it is for a farmer in the rust belt. It defines so much of us. 

Poor Jews taking home free matzohs, New York, 1908

And so marking ourselves as lower class wasn’t only against Jewish law and tradition, as were so many other things that were overlooked by Jewish families. For US American Jews in the 20th century it was also, in many ways, a slap the face of the very attitude that gave their hardship some meaning, namely that the next generation would have it better. With a tattoo, you were definitely not headed for a better life.

Now, I like to rethink things, just for the sake of it. So I could stop here and be content. However, the idea of tattoos being frowned upon in Jewish families because of social context may hint at the future of Jewish tattooing. With tattoos having arrived to the mainstream of general society and hence not being associated with lower classes, anymore, I believe Jewish perception of tattoos will reflect that, within a generation or even less. Of course, ultra orthodox Jews will still not get tattooed. But I believe we’ll see more and more Rabbis and other central figures in our communities show their tattoos in public over the next few decades.

They got them already.

Believe me. I know ;)