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Shalom,

I have heard many times that there is a problem with drawing on your skin with ink. Can anyone provide sources on the topic? I would like to know things like what issur this falls under and if there are certain types of ink that are more problematic than others etc.

I saw a related post here: Is getting a "fake" tattoo a violation of halacha? It does not address my question directly though.

Thanks!

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Gavriel
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  • I think the Chinuch says not to. – sam Aug 03 '12 at 16:52
  • See Bais Shmuel 124:16 on temp marks and Minchas Chinuch 253:1. – sam Aug 03 '12 at 17:01
  • Can you clarify exactly what isn't covered by the linked question? – Double AA Aug 03 '12 at 23:51
  • @DoubleAA There was mention of ink only in passing with reference to the Minchas Chinuch and it was described as "permanent ink" which seems to me to be undefined. I am also looking for sources which were not given there but have been given here. – Gavriel Aug 04 '12 at 17:51
  • @Gabi I asked what was missing in the question, not the answers. Is there anything in your question not covered in the other question? – Double AA Aug 05 '12 at 05:39
  • @DoubleAA I think the question was about tattoos, I am asking about drawing with ink. [There could be a difference in inks, the act of drawing (which is ironically more like tattooing then fake tattoo's), or any number of other differences.] – Gavriel Aug 05 '12 at 07:15
  • @Gabi Doesn't "I'll define this broadly as any tattoo that doesn't permanently show on your body. This includes transfer tattoos, henna, etc." cover all of that? – Double AA Aug 05 '12 at 07:51
  • @DoubleAA I agree that it does, however I saw from people's answers there that all they took it to mean was fake tattoos and henna. The answers people gave here is closer to what I'm looking for. – Gavriel Aug 05 '12 at 07:56
  • FYI - Now that you have an answer, it explains why Jewish doctors frequently write on a patient's skin to mark the incision site for surgery or injection procedures. I've heard of a Jewish doctor in the ER who writes the patient's name on the patient's head or other non-bloodied exposed area. This is a smart move, IMO, as a patient may or can go into trauma or coma at any time and time is essential in such severe cases. – DanF Sep 20 '18 at 22:48

3 Answers3

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It is permitted to draw on one's skin / get a fake tattoo.

The Torah says not to get a tattoo. A tattoo is defined by ink inside an incision in the skin. Ink alone is not a tattoo.

Dov F
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    This doesn't prove there's not a separate prohibition – b a Aug 03 '12 at 23:25
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    @ba What prohibition would there be besides tattooing? – Double AA Aug 03 '12 at 23:35
  • @DoubleAA Maris ayin. I also heard a rumor (unsourced) that it's not good to write on someone because your body really belongs to G-d, and so you'd be damaging G-d's property. – b a Aug 03 '12 at 23:38
  • @ba Impossible! There is no such thing as Maris ayin! :) – Double AA Aug 03 '12 at 23:40
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    I don't really see how writing is damaging. Are you worth less in the slave market? Is it permanent? Is your body less effective (however you define that)? – Double AA Aug 03 '12 at 23:41
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    @ba I think the Shulchan Aruch would've said that there's a potential d'rabbanan if there was one. As for damaging God's property, that should apply to piercings too. Do you think it is wrong for people to pierce their ears? – Dov F Aug 03 '12 at 23:44
  • Besides, it is unclear that tattooing for beauty is forbidden in the first place. See the Shulchan Aruch I linked, in se'if 3 with the Shach. – Dov F Aug 03 '12 at 23:45
  • I see your point. (Though what you referred to Shach in se'if 3, do you mean s"k 5, where he says that it's okay to put dirt on yourself? I don't think that is a proof, because that se'if is dealing with on a wound, and what the Shach says in the name of the Bach is still dealing with the subject of that se'if, and not putting dirt on just for fun.) – b a Aug 04 '12 at 00:12
  • @ba See s"k 6 where it is implied that in cases where it is clearly being done for beauty it would be permitted. – Dov F Aug 05 '12 at 00:56
  • But in that case, he has a visible wound. It's impossible for anyone to have a visible need for beauty (as far as I can tell). – b a Aug 05 '12 at 04:37
  • @ba True, but the reasoning the Shach provides has nothing to do with a need. It is simply that it is clear that the "tattoo" is not for the purposes of חוקות העכו"ם; reasoning which applies equally when it is clear from the tattoo that its purpose is beauty. – Dov F Aug 05 '12 at 07:26
  • There are many people who get tattoos to "go with the flow." Even if someone did it for some other reason, it wouldn't be distinguishable. – b a Aug 05 '12 at 07:28
  • @ba I can hear that being a debatable point (in the comment that I brought this up I only wrote "it is unclear that tattooing for beauty is forbidden"). Also, there are certain things which are clearly for beauty, such as permanent makeup that is applied in the manner of a tattoo. – Dov F Aug 05 '12 at 07:46
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The Mishna (Shabbat 12:4) discusses the prohibition of writing on Shabbat. In that context, it says the following:

הכותב על בשרו - חיב. המסרט על בשרו - רבי אליעזר מחיב חטאת ורבי יהושע פוטר

One who writes upon his skin is obligated [to bring a sin offering]. Concerning one who engraves his skin, Rabbi Eliezer obligates him to bring a sin offering but Rabbi Yehoshua exempts him.

In the gemara (Shabbat 104b), the mishna there says that it's the sages (and not Rabbi Yehoshua in particular) who exempt him from bringing a sin offering, but no reason is given. In the Rambam's peirush, he suggests that it's because Rabbi Yehoshua (or "the sages" in the Bavli's version) did not consider engraving on the skin to be a form of writing. If it's not a legitimate form of writing then by doing it on Shabbat one is only transgressing a rabbinic prohibition.

It seems to me that, following this logic, writing on one's skin in ink (which is what the former part of the mishna speaks about) is a legitimate form of writing. One might prohibit it on the basis of mar'it ha'ayin, but I've not seen such a prohibition ever spelt out.

Shimon bM
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Moroccan Jews use henna in their wedding ceremonies. If this is a halakha, it is only Ashkenazi.

Charles Koppelman
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