A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

When Jews get Tattoos

I remember a few years ago a scientific study was released that showed that when Israeli (and presumably Jewish) men got tattoos, they experienced localized breakdown of muscle tissue (this is actually true). These results were never replicated outside of Israel, so my theory is that it was psychosomatic in nature because of the strong stigma against tattoos… But when I saw the next tattoo (believed to be an allergic reaction), I’m beginning to think that maybe God does have a problem with his chosen people getting inked.

Sorry Christians, you guys are just too willing to bend and too sloppy about your faith to be able to crack a good tattoo joke about you. As always, the Jews win the comedy battle.

Written with sincere condolences to hte person going through hell with this reaction!

Comments

5 responses to “When Jews get Tattoos”

  1. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    The following comments were imported from our old comment system:

    Posted on 04-25-2006 01:03:52 by Kanga43
    Oooooouch!!

    Posted on 04-25-2006 01:35:51 by alrdygrownup
    Wow! Excellent post, Shannon. Nicely done, sir 🙂

    Posted on 04-25-2006 01:44:48 by joshua
    oy.

    Posted on 04-25-2006 02:16:49 by eep
    When I first saw the picture of this tattoo a while ago i asked my jewish bf what it meant ( i was describing the symbols over the phone so this could be way off) and he said it was the true name of god which should not be written and rarely spoken so i found it kind of erie that the tattoo kind of destroyed itself.

    Posted on 04-25-2006 02:30:39 by Elaine
    eep is right, the four letters are yod-he-vav-he and are generally transcribed in English as Yahweh. You do find it written in the Old Testament, but if the vowels are included they will be the vowels from a different name of God and someone reading it aloud would say the second name (Adonay) as well. I don’t think any observant Jew would ever tattoo this on him or herself.

    Posted on 04-25-2006 02:38:58 by an0nymous_vamp1re
    Ouch! That really sucks.

    Posted on 04-25-2006 09:01:03 by glider
    Wow, thanks for the follow up guys, this really does make it a great little “weird news” story.

    Posted on 04-25-2006 12:37:37 by Jewifer
    Apparently, the jewish god is angry that someone took his name into their own… leg? wrist?

    I’m an Israeli female, and my tattoos have never treated me badly. Then again that could be because the study was about Israeli males. Or because I don’t have Gods name tattooed on me. Ow

    Posted on 04-25-2006 13:09:43 by bob
    If you get ‘Satan’ tattooed do you grow horns???

    Posted on 04-25-2006 16:26:44 by hellonightmare
    0____0;

    Posted on 04-25-2006 23:19:58 by dream3r
    that tattoo doesn’t look very happy. creepy coicidence with the name of god destroying itself though.

    Posted on 04-26-2006 03:28:28 by slackary
    If the results were never replicated outside of Israel, could it be Israeli tattooists rather than tattooees? There are so many different ways to be Israeli (and Jewish) that a genetic/heredity link seems pretty unlikely. IMO, it’s uncool to break religious rules, especially other people’s. But it still sucks to have a tat go bad like that.

    Posted on 04-26-2006 12:40:57 by diana
    this is deffinatly a blasphomous tattoo. things like this make me wonder….

    Posted on 04-28-2006 23:23:45 by The Horned One
    blasphemy rules.

  2. bambina Avatar
    bambina

    im sorry but this is complete BULL. im israeli and heavily tattooed, and so are most of my friends, and ive never seen a tattoo go this bad.
    id also like to point out that i highly doubt the bearer of this horribly infected piece of art(?) is JEWISH. no jew/israeli person ive ever met will even think of getting the “name of god” tattooed on his body (and no, there isnt a realy good reason for this, its just one of those things that you DONT do).

  3. veronica Avatar
    veronica

    i agree with bambina. that’s as bad as a muslim getting Allah tattooed on his/her body. it just wouldn’t happen!! :-/

  4. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    Um, plenty of Muslims have done that…

    And Bambina is probably only right in that the Jew that did this is not one that they’ve met… Because there are plenty of Jews that don’t have an issue with it.

  5. Phalaeo Avatar
    Phalaeo

    My best friend in college was a Muslim from Pakistan and she had the biggest blackwork Allah done on her shoulder.

    That being said, I’m Jewish, and can’t understand why someone would want to get the name of G-d tattooed on them. It’s probably a touch worse than the “Jesus Fucking Christ” tat.

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