Limes with Orange

This Week in Review

Breaking News: That neighbourhood Primal Grounds that I was so excited about has turned out to be a bust. It's in the local tennis club and is as depressing as every fleabitten motel I've ever stayed in while driving across country through hick towns in the northern states.

Adventures in Film: Pre-screened my latest film at a Media Crit Night for feedback from other artists with CSIF, EMMEDIA and Quickdraw Animation. I've realized that I need to stop being shy about asking my friends in filmmaking about my work, because I'm at a stage where it's easier for me to hear feedback from people I know than from people I don't know.

The Culture Corner: Had a fun filled weekend attending Tank Standing Buffalo's art show and my sister's bellydancing recital!

Journeys with Judaism: Tattoos. Frowned upon by Jewish tradition. Obviously not frowned upon by me. So I did a little research and thought over a few things...

The oft quoted passage, Leviticus 19:28, says "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am the Lord." I would argue first of all that a tattoo is not an incision. That would be cutting. (Even ear piercing would be closer to being an "incision" and yet that's okay.) And secondly, I believe it is only referring to marking yourself with the name of God. Then what about Isaiah 44:5? "One shall say, 'I am the Lord's,' and another shall use the name of Jacob, and another shall mark his arm 'of the Lord' and adopt the name of Israel." Mark his arm? Sounds like a tattoo to me. And this tattoo even refers to the Lord. Sounds like there's room for interpretation on this one as far as I'm concerned, because it seems to me that the only thing being objected to is tattooing yourself with some variation of "I am God"... which I have no intention of doing.

Maimonides sees tattooing as an act of idolatry, which would explain the prohibition if true. But my tattoos are not acts of idolatry, they simply tell the story of my personal journey. So shouldn't tattoos be considered on a case by case basis, depending on the reason behind them and the images in the tattoo?

Then there is the argument that we are created b'tzelem Elokim (in the image of God) and that our bodies are to be viewed as a precious gift on loan from God, to be entrusted into our care and are not our personal property to do with as we choose. But we make choices for our bodies every day, from whether we smoke or drink to what shampoo we use. Whose to say what is the best way to care for this gift? I believe my tattoos are actually helping to make my "gift" more personal.

This is a much bigger debate that I'm prepared to go into here, but I would like to take a moment to point out that it's an urban legend that you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery if you have tattoos. And one last link on the subject: Tattoo Jew, the movie.

Life with Emma: Methinks it was a bad decision to play Emma's DVD on my computer monitor. Now she watches over my shoulder whenever I'm on the computer and it's a little unnerving!

Quest for Quotes: Marsha Ellen Meidow recently posted this quote by Anais Nin on her Facebook profile and I think it's amazing... "I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman."

Labels: highlights, judaism, tattoos