On a web page titled Jews with Tattoos there are a few Stars of David:
Star of David with the word Chai in its center
Star of David with the words Am Israel Chai
start of david
With the following lovely forward and news item (in bold letters):
So supposedly it's forbidden for us, but I just spoke with a Reform Rabbi the other day who said this is completely not the case anymore. My cemetary plot's already paid for, so the hell if I am not going to be buried there and cremated too!
On the other hand I read the following answer of Rabbi George (Gershom) Barnard who is the senior rabbi of Northern Hills Synagogue and a member of the Greater Cincinnati Board of Rabbis:
In recent years, both the Reform and Conservative movements have had to address the issue, and both of them forbid tattooing. The Reform position may be represented by a responsum of the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (a committee whose chair is Rabbi Mark Washofsky of Cincinnati). That 1999 responsum states that “when we practice tattooing, body-piercing, or any other act of permanent physical alteration, we do not honor our bodies. Instead, we engage in an act of hubris and manipulation that most surely runs counter to the letter and spirit of our tradition.”
The Conservative position may be represented by a 1997 responsum written by Rabbi Alan Lucas (who grew up in Cincinnati), accepted by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly. This responsum states that “as tattoos become more popular in contemporary society, there is a need to reinforce the prohibition against tattooing in our communities and counterbalance it with education regarding the traditional concept that we are created b’tzelem Elokim, in the image of God.”
However, contrary to widespread belief, there is no traditional basis for saying that someone who has a tattoo may not be buried in a Jewish cemetery, and Rabbi Lucas’s responsum explicitly rejects that notion.
There’s a tattoo a with the word Zion and a Lion on
http://paddyhago.blogspot.com/2006/02/to-tattoo-or-not-to-tattoo.html
who wrote:
I was taught that the Torah is a guidebook. To be a good Jew, I must know what the laws are. To be a good person, I need to know how those laws apply to me today. By getting a tattoo, I do not feel I am being Pagan.
An interesting point is raised on:
http://www.jordanelgrably.com/inyourfaith.html
Kaufman explains… that "a majority of young Jews have tattoos, ear-rings, nose-rings--this is a fact of life today. Ask any parent. So it hit me suddenly, of what use is this halachic law if it's going to exclude an entire generation from Jewish ceremony and tradition?"
Alan Kaufman is the Editor in Chief of a new alternative Jewish quarterly called Davka (Hebrew slang for "in your face").
