Is it alright to pierce your ears or nose in Judaism? I thought it was wrong to mutilate yourself?

Answer 1

Judaism, interestingly enough, does not have a problem with piercing - at least, not as much as a tattoo. Piercings can heal (at least in theory). Tattoos, on the other hand, are permanent disfigurements (from the Jewish point of view) of the body, so they are forbidden. They are also frowned upon because of the association of tattooing with the Nazi death camps where numbers were tattooed upon the arms of those taken there.

That being said, there are plenty of Jews who have tattoos, of course. The decision as to whether or not to have one is up to the individual, as with any choice to obey.

Answer 2

In the bible it is said that self mutilation, even in forms like piercings and tattoos, are a sin because we need to respect the bodies that God gave us. However, I don't think that this applies in the same way today. Back then, a tattoo or piercing had a very high chance of leading to infection. This means that by getting one you were setting your body up for disease, which was disrespectful. Today, however, our medical and scientific knowledge is so good that the chance of infection is incredibly low and therefore it does not count a self mutilation like cutting yourself would.

Answer 3

Men can pierce their left ear if they are choosing to be a servant of Yahweh. This comes from servants being freed by their master's and choosing to stay and serve anyway. They would pierce their right ear to show this. Tattoos are okay as long as they are not honoring a dead person. Orthodox Jews would probably say otherwise, but I am Messianic (hate all you want) and that is how we have interpreted the bible.

Answer 4

I have alot of Jewish friends, they all had their ears pierced when they we kids. I'm not sure what the Torah says about it but I have never seen it as a cultural issue.

Answer 5

Who says that's mutilation? And while we're at it, what about circumcision?