There is a fine line between expressing a general rule and expressing personal opinion. I find that line incredibly infuriating. In a rabbinic context (though you can
find similar "blurriness" basically everywhere), this is sometimes displayed in the form of a rabbi issuing a legal verdict on a contemporary issue... and then subtly throwing in a personal bias. I don't like when this happens. (See? Bias!) My objection isn't against our expressing opinions, but that we should be open, honest, and transparent about our personal positions. We should differentiate them from objective, general statements. Let me give you an example from this week's Torah portion, and an issue I get asked about quite frequently. Tattoos. Everyone "knows" that Jews are FORBIDDEN from getting tattoos, and if they obstinately transgress this prohibition, they can NEVER be buried in a Jewish cemetery!! My apologies to all the Jewish mothers (and fathers) out there... but this belief is FALSE.
The infamous verse underlying this ban comes from our Torah portion. Leviticus, 19:28: "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks
on yourselves; I am Adonai." Ok, so first of all, we need to view this verse in context. Right before v. 28, the Torah forbid divination (v. 26), and right after, it also outlawed "turning to ghosts and inquiring of spirits" (v. 31). So right away, one could argue (and many commentators do!) that we're mainly talking about cult-tattoos. These were marks done for ritual purposes, often with an idolatrous intention. Even before we get deeper under the skin of this issue (ha, ha!), a lenient authority could already posit that most people's tattoos do NOT qualify as pagan, heretical, deistic, ritualistic markings! Even ones that have Hebrew words, Divine names, or sacrilegious imagery, still are not likely being done for cultic purposes. So that's Strike One.
I would also add that the Torah NEVER links these abhorrent practices to cemetery bans, nor do many rabbinic authorities.
But let's spend a minute arguing FOR the restriction: Getting a tattoo violates Jewish law, so therefore you are a person who does not care (or not enough anyway) about Halachah. By that logic, however, people who did not keep Kosher or the laws of Shabbat "should" be barred as well, and surely no rabbinic authorities suggest we EXPAND this restriction! In other words, Strike Two; even if you think tattoos are wrong, and against Jewish law, there is NO BASIS for forbidding that person from being buried in a Jewish cemetery, or restricting their participation in ANY part of Jewish, ritual life. And yes, I'd like to offer a Strike Three as well.
The Conservative Movement's opinion on this issue was authored by Rabbi Alan Lucas. Rabbi Lucas upholds the prohibition against tattooing, though unequivocally agrees with my Strike Two above; a Jew with tattoos has NOT forfeited any Jewish
rights. His argument for maintaining the ban, however, brings me back to my first point at the top of this post - objective statement vs. subjective opinion. Rabbi Lucas writes, "we are created b'Tzelem Elokim (in the image of God) and... our bodies are to be viewed as a precious gift on loan from God, to be entrusted into our care and [are] not our personal property to do with as we choose." This SOUNDS like a general statement, but it actually makes a HUGE assumption; that tattooing your skin disrespects your body. That is, at best, a debatable point! If our bodies are not our personal property, shouldn't the same prohibitions be enforced against people who overeat, smoke, don't exercise enough, or change their hair color?!?! Do you see my point? Insisting that THIS specific practice disrespects the body seems somewhat arbitrary... and quite judgmental.
There's more we could say here, including adding the tragic and uncomfortable subject of forced tattooing, as was done to Jews during the Holocaust. It's not a
simple matter of "yes" or "no." I'm happy to keep discussing this, if anyone is interested. For now, my two main points are, if you think the practice is entirely forbidden and you're jeopardizing your cemetery plot, you are wrong. And, perhaps more importantly, look for the subtle - but crucial - difference between objective reality and subjective opinion. It matters a lot. And when we shame other people, we leave some pretty permanent marks, and ones that cut a whole lot deeper than just under the skin...
CC images in this blog post courtesy of:
1.
Brett Sayles on
Pexels.com
2.
pxhere.com
3.
Rudi Riet on
Flickr
4.
pngimg.com
5.
Lamilli on
Wikimedia Commons
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