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March 5, 2004
Jewish law forbids tattoos....
Hip-hop dancer Tal Iozef believes some rules are meant to be broken.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Tal Iozef has a permanent reminder that he is a proud Jew and Israeli.
He sees it every time he steps into the shower, every time he ties
up his shoelaces and every time he is asked about it. However, his
show of Jewish pride also breaks one of his religion's sacred laws.
Iozef is one of many people who have permanently marked their bodies
with a tattoo – an act that is forbidden by Jewish law. But
he is part of a unique, yet seemingly more popular, group that breaks
Jewish law while honoring their Jewish identity.
The tattoo on the side of his left ankle features half a Canadian
maple leaf attached to half a Magen David. A statement of which
this Israeli-born Jew is rather proud.
"I knew that I wanted something that had a connection to Canada
and Israel," said Iozef, who was born in Rehovot and moved
to Vancouver when he was three. "I was waiting in the airport
and I noticed the maple leaf on the Air Canada logo, so I started
drawing it just for fun. Then I realized that the lines kind of
met up with the Star of David, started playing with it and I just
felt that I had to have it."
Iozef said he is seriously considering expanding his tattoo collection
with some yet-undetermined Hebrew across the top of his back.
"[Hebrew] is a big part of who I am: Both an Israeli and a
Jew," he told the Bulletin. "I'm not religious
but I love Israel and I love the Jewish culture. I want something
to have that connection permanaently."
The Jewish law that forbids tattoos, or any body mutilation for
that matter, is Leviticus 19:28. It states, "You shall not
make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourself:
I am the Lord."
The passage continues, suggesting that Judaism has always seen our
bodies as a gift from God, merely a house for our soul that we return
to God, like a leased vehicle, after we are done with it.
When asked how he feels about that concept, Iozef, who is a professional
hip-hop dance teacher, said he considers that he is sharing his
body with God, rather than simply renting it.
"It's a tough one," he said, contemplating his relationship
with God. "I've been living in this body for about 24 years
now and it's as much me as it is Him. I'm putting my two cents or
a little bit extra on this body and if He does get it back, He can
do with it whatever he wants. This is my time."
Iozef added that he believes some rules are meant to be broken.
"Things have been set so long ago and nobody knew how [life]
would turn out," he said. "So many people have tattoos
in Israel and it's changed so much in the past 10 years. People
are doing more of what they want. They haven't lost the connection
[to Judaism], they're just dealing with it in a different way."
He admitted that he also enjoys the reactions his tattoo gets from
people, especially Jews.
"I did it for myself but I like showing it off," he said.
"A couple of Jewish people have come up to me and said, 'Hey
you're Jewish,' because they notice my tattoo."
Not everyone feels the same way about tattoos as Iozef does. In
1985, Michael Lerner, a New York-born Jew, made aliyah to Israel.
There, he started an anti-tattoo crusade on his Web site, Tattoos
are not for Jews, found at www.geocities.com/mnlerner2000.
On his site, Lerner has published a letter that he sent to Israel's
Jewish Knesset members.
"It is well known that this is forbidden by our Torah, but
it is important to note that even Jews who did not consider themselves
devout did not widely commit this sin until this generation,"
he wrote. "What is causing this phenomenon? Perhaps ignorance,
perhaps emptiness, perhaps other things. I am of the opinion that
the people's chosen representatives and the educational system must
educate the nation that 'Tattoos are not for Jews.' "
In May 2002, three years after Lerner sent this letter, the Knesset
passed a law requiring anyone under the age of 16 to obtain parental
consent in order to have a tattoo. Lerner saw this as a step in
the right direction.
"I feel that this is a positive law, in that it may help prevent
children from doing things that they are almost certain to regret,"
he wrote. "However, it is a far cry from what needs to be done
in the field of education."
Lerner's site also offers information about the process of getting
rid of a tattoo, the potential damage to the body that a tattoo
can cause and several frequently asked questions about Jews and
tattoos.
According to a Harris Poll released last year, approximately 36
per cent of people of all religions aged 25 to 29 have at least
one tattoo and, in 2002, Esquire magazine estimated that
one in every eight Americans was branded in some way.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer
living in Richmond.
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