August 28, 2023 by Lazer Brody
The Torah prohibits tattoos (Lev. 19:28). A Hebrew highbrow might therefore turn up his nose at a Jew with a tattoo. But who is that Jew with the tattoo? Did he ever learn Torah? Maybe he innocently put a tattoo on his body because of his innocent love of Hashem. The Gemara says that a prohibition done for Hashem’s sake is greater than a mitzva that’s not done for Hashem’s sake (Nazir 23b). Here’s a story that I told in the Ojai, California Chabad house about something that the Heavenly Court would certainly consider to be a “kosher” tattoo. Unlike us, the Heavenly Court takes all considerations into account.
Thank you! I will always remember, “I want to show G-d where He took me from.” I don’t have any tattoos, but I never want to forget where I was before I learned about the ways of Hashem.
ב”ה