' (ויקרא יט,כח)ושרט לנפש לא תתנו בבשרכם וכתבת קעקע לא תתנו בכם אני ה
One should not make any cuttings in the flesh for the dead, nor make any “marks” on yourself; I am HaShem.
What is the prohibition of kesoves ka’aka? Should we restrict the meaning of the prohibition to tattooing and not to include branding, or vice versa? Or perhaps the Torah intends to prohibit both?
The word כתבת קעקע appears only once in the Tanach, which allows no other textual source for comparison of meaning. This is referred to as hapax legomena.
Onkelos renders it as deep scratches indicating written incisions (tattooing). The Peshita provides a similar translation as a nekuda (dot) created by tattooing’s continuous line of deep dots in the skin.
Rashi explains the verse as a scratch or incision that is embedded deeply (in the skin), can never be erased, is done with a needle, and darkens (the skin) forever.
The standard halacha seems to be that there exists a direct prohibition against tattooing.
However, a minority of commentators do explain the verse to refer to “branding”, an action done with a fiery object which does not include ink or paint. Ibn Ezra cites the juxtaposition of the two prohibitions in the verse to suggest that the second prohibition is branding, a painful and traumatic process, is more similar to the first prohibition.
The Torah does record two instances of body-marking. In the first instance Kayin is marked by HaShem seemingly to protect him after he killed his brother. Rashi explains that this mark was chiseled unto his forehead displaying a letter from G-d’s name.
The second instance is recorded in the story of Yehudah and Tamar. When Yehudah hears that Tamar is pregnant he judges her for punishment by fire. Ohr Zarua says that this means she is to be taken out and fire-marked (branded) on her cheek. Paneach Raza and the Baal haTurim both indicate that she was to be branded (and not killed).
Finally, the Ralbag explains that this verse indicates a biblical prohibition against inflicting any pain upon on bodies, except, of course, circumcision of males.
The prohibition in Jewish is against all forms of tattooing regardless of their intent. In addition to the fact that Judaism has a long history of distaste for tattoos, tattooing becomes even more distasteful in a contemporary secular society that is constantly challenging the Jewish concept that we are created b'tzelem Elokim (in the image of God), and that our bodies are to be viewed as a precious gift on loan from G-d, to be entrusted into our care and are not our personal property to do with as we choose. Voluntary tattooing even if not done for idolatrous purposes expresses a negation of this fundamental Jewish perspective.
Rabbi Saadiah Gaon (4642-4702; 882-942) was a great and trailblazing leader of the Jewish people. His activities included: commentator, philosopher, grammarian, poet etc. As the leader of the Jewish people he was also an accomplished polemicist. The chief group that felt the sharp edge of his pen was the Karaite sect, which held powerful influence in the Jewish communities in Israel and Mesopotamia.
Rabbi Saadiah’s chief philosophical work “The Choicest of Beliefs and Opinions” was devoted, in part, to deflecting the Karaite attacks on the Mesorah, Rabbinic interpretations and traditions. He even composed a philological work, “Shivim Milim Boddos”, detailing the 70 instances of hapax legomenon (unmatched words in the Tanach), in order to demonstrate that without the Mesorah, it would be impossible to properly interpret the Written Word.
