I remember reading an article about the tattoo issue in the Washington Jewish Week a few years ago. Basically tattoos are getting more accepted, and the majority of Jewish cemeteries couldn't care less if you were tattooed or pierced like a punk rocker. I'll see if I can dig the article up for you.
About the wicked child's question, suburbaknght is on the right track. The question was along the lines of "What do your rituals mean to me." He starts by drawing a boundary between himself and the community, instead of asking "What to our rituals mean to me, basically implying that however the question is answered, he still won't be a part of the community. Now, here's the catch which can lead to some fun Rabbinical spinning. The wise child is usually translated as asking about "us" but if you look at the original hebrew quote, the word actually translates to "you" which is what got the wicked child in trouble in the first place! Basically, there's a lot of head scratching going on right now about what the original haggadah authors meant when they included the four children, and a lot of disagreement over how to interpret it. Congratulations, you've got company! This is why going to hebrew school was worthwhile. It teaches you enough hebrew that you can figure out where the translator fudged things to match the current societal mores. I usually spend most of passover doing that with the haggadah, and services doing that with the siddur.
And to specifically address your question, I'll excerpt a paragraph: "If a nonobservant Jew is permitted to be buried in a Jewish cemetery," he said, "then [a tattooed Jew] is no different. We, of course, would prefer that you not be tattooed, but ... it's not such a fundamental precept that it would make you 'not Jewish.' You're still a Jew."
That's a rabbi from an orthodox sephardic congregation in the DC area.
About the wicked child's question, suburbaknght is on the right track. The question was along the lines of "What do your rituals mean to me." He starts by drawing a boundary between himself and the community, instead of asking "What to our rituals mean to me, basically implying that however the question is answered, he still won't be a part of the community.
Now, here's the catch which can lead to some fun Rabbinical spinning. The wise child is usually translated as asking about "us" but if you look at the original hebrew quote, the word actually translates to "you" which is what got the wicked child in trouble in the first place! Basically, there's a lot of head scratching going on right now about what the original haggadah authors meant when they included the four children, and a lot of disagreement over how to interpret it. Congratulations, you've got company! This is why going to hebrew school was worthwhile. It teaches you enough hebrew that you can figure out where the translator fudged things to match the current societal mores. I usually spend most of passover doing that with the haggadah, and services doing that with the siddur.
Reply
Reply
http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=3909&SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&S=1
And to specifically address your question, I'll excerpt a paragraph:
"If a nonobservant Jew is permitted to be buried in a Jewish cemetery," he said, "then [a tattooed Jew] is no different. We, of course, would prefer that you not be tattooed, but ... it's not such a fundamental precept that it would make you 'not Jewish.' You're still a Jew."
That's a rabbi from an orthodox sephardic congregation in the DC area.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment