Question: I want to teach my students about body piercings and tattoos from a Torah perspective in a way that they will be receptive. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

Answers: Jewish law does prohibit the application of tattoos (see Vayikra. 19, 28; Gemara Makkos, 21a; Shulchan Aruch, Yore Deah, 180 et. al.). The medieval Spanish summary of the 613 commandments, the Sefer Hachinuch, suggests as a possible explanation for the commandment the fact that various pagan cultures used tattooing for ceremonial purposes and, since the Torah wants to place great distance between Jews and paganism of any kind, the practice was prohibited.

Relevant also are the difficulties associated with removing tattoos. I do have experience with Jews who have chosen to make their way to full Torah observance and felt the presence of tattoos to be an impediment. In at least one case, a young man felt such discomfort with his tattoo that he was compelled to undergo what I understand was a painful and invasive procedure to remove it.

In addition, as you’re obviously well aware, the social implications of tattoos, body rings and the like are also worth considering. It’s certainly true (as you can see from Shmos 32; 2) that earrings seem to have been common even among boys (but apparently not among adult men – as the men were not told to donate their earrings). But, nevertheless, such dress is unknown among orthodox families today. So even if a practice is perfectly acceptable from a legal perspective, integration into all or part of the traditional Jewish community might be hindered by such a non-verbal “statement.”

Another thought: the way we dress and the jewelry choices we make are all statements of cultural loyalty. Rather than “expressing individuality”, adopting a popular fashion style is far more likely to be slavish imitation of some media hero. Now there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that; we all do it in one way or another. But it could be of value for a young person to think carefully about this hero’s moral and social standards before copying his or her habits.

I hope this is helpful.

With my best regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton