Is body piercing permitted according to Jewish law?

Responsa in a Moment

Volume 17, Number 6

 Is body piercing permitted according to Jewish law?*

(Yoreh De’ah 182:5)

 by Rabbi David Golinkin

In honor of Prof. Elliot Dorff
Rabbi, teacher, mentsch
Upon his reaching the age of Gevurot.
May he continue to learn, to teach and to do
Ad me’ah v’esrim.

Question: Is body piercing permitted according to Jewish law?

Responsum: For the sake of clarity, I shall divide my responsum into six sections:

1. Ear and nose piercing for girls and women;
2. Ear and nose piercing for boys and men;
3. Mora av va’em – fearing one’s parents;
4. Piercing other parts of the body;
5. Medical complications;
6. Summary and practical halakhah.

I) Ear and nose piercing for girls and women

In Biblical times, girls and women used to wear earrings and/or nose rings, as is evident from the following sources. The Hebrew word frequently used is nezem, which can mean earring or nose ring according to the context.

1. Genesis 24, 47 (cf. ibid., 22, 30): Abraham’s servant tells Rebecca’s family: “And I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her hands.”
2. Genesis 35, 4: “And [the members of Jacob’s household] gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears …” (it’s not clear if the rings were worn by men and/or women).
3. Exodus 32, 2-3: “Aaron said to them: take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, sons and daughters and bring them to me. And the entire people took off the gold rings that were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron”.
4. Isaiah 3, 18-21: “In that day the Lord will remove the finery … the eardrops [hanetifot]… the signet rings and the nose rings…”. “Netifot” are probably earrings with pearls dripping down like drops of water. (1)
5. Ezekiel 16, 12: The Prophet speaks to Jerusalem as if she were a young woman who had strayed from the proper path: “And I put a ring on your nose and earrings on your ears …”.
6. Hosea 2, 15: The prophet compares the Northern Israelites to a prostitute: “And she bedecked herself with earrings and jewels and she went after her lovers”. (2)
7. Proverbs 25, 12: “Like a ring of gold, a golden ornament is a wise man’s rebuke in a receptive ear.” Here too it’s not clear who is being rebuked.

In the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, it was also assumed that girls and women wore rings in their ears and noses. Here are some of the sources on the subject collected by the A. Sh. Hirschberg and Samuel Krauss:

1. Mishnah Shabbat 6, 1: “In what does a woman go out [on Shabbat] and in what does she not go out? …and not with nezamim…”
2. The Talmud Bavli (Shabbat 59b at bottom) explains “nezamim: the rings of the nose”, and Rashi explains: “But the rings of the ear are allowed [on Shabbat] before the fact because they are difficult to remove and show…”.
3. Mishnah Shabbat 6, 6: “Young girls go out with threads and even with chips in their ears.” Rashi explains (Shabbat 65a) that the young girls pierce their ears but do not wear earrings until they grow older, so they put a string or a chip in their ears so that the holes should not close up.
4. Mishnah Kelim 11, 8-9: “All women’s jewelry are impure… earrings… nose rings… If an earring is made with a pot-shaped bottom and a lentil-shaped top…”.
5. Tosefta Avodah Zarah 5, 1, ed. Zuckermandel, p. 468: And the Sages say: [a shape of idol worship] is only forbidden… and on honored objects such as sheirim [=chains, necklaces] and the nezamim and katlaot [=chains, necklaces] and signet rings – these are all forbidden…”.
6. Kiddushin 48a at bottom = Bava Kama 99a: “As we have learned in a Baraita [=a Tannaitic teaching not found in the Mishnah]: “[If a woman says to a man:] Make me sheirim [=chains, necklaces], nezamim and signet rings and I will be betrothed to you, once he made them, she is betrothed — these are the words of Rabbi Meir …”.
7. Shabbat 46b = Mo’ed Katan 12b: “[But we have learned in a Baraita:] the sheirim [=chains, necklaces] and the nezamim and the signet rings are like all the vessels which may be lifted in a courtyard [on Shabbat]…”.
8. Shemot Rabbah 15,3: “To what can this be compared? To a king who wanted to marry a woman and they came and said to him: She is poor, she only possesses two nezamim in the world.. “.

Finally, in the Middle Ages and in modern times, Jewish women also used to wear earrings in their ears, as is evident from numerous illustrations. (3)

We have, therefore, seen that Jewish women and girls have always pierced their ears and noses and worn earrings and nose rings from Biblical times until today, and no one attempted to prohibit this.

II) Ear and nose piercing for boys and men

As for boys and men, the matter is a bit more complicated, but after careful study it turns out that this too is permissible. Exodus 32, 2-3 quoted above implies that boys and men also wore earrings in Biblical times. It’s clear from verse 2 that boys wore gold earrings, while from verse 3 it appears that men also wore earrings and therefore it says “the entire people”.

This is also hinted at the end of the book of Job (42, 11). It’s related there that all of Job’s brothers, sisters and acquaintances came to comfort him “and each gave him one kesitah, and each one gold nezem” and this implies that Job wore earrings or nose rings. (4)

On the other hand, there is one Biblical source that implies that Israelite men did not wear nezamim. We read in Judges 8, 24-26:

And Gideon said to them: I have a request to make of you, each of you give me the earring he received as booty; for they had golden earrings for they were Ishmaelites… and everyone threw onto it the earring he had received as booty… this was in addition to the crescents and netifot [earrings with pearls, as above] worn by the kings of Midian…

In other words, the Midianites who were called “Ishmaelites” (in the sense of nomadic desert peoples, cf. Genesis 37, 25-36) used to wear gold earrings and netifot, in contrast to the Children of Israel who did not.

One does not usually make halakhic rulings based on the Bible, but we have nevertheless learned that there is evidence that men did indeed wear earrings in Biblical times. (5)

There is one source that ostensibly indicates that certain men would pierce their ears during the Tannaitic period:

As we have learned in a Baraita: a tailor may not go out [on Shabbat] with his needle stuck into his garment, nor a carpenter with a chip in his ear… (Shabbat 11b).

However, this source is uncertain, because in two versions of the parallel passage in the Tosefta  it says: “nor a carpenter with a chip around his neck”. (6)

On the other hand, during the period of the Tannaim, there were Sages who tried to forbid men from wearing women’s jewelry, and perhaps, therefore, we should prohibit in our case. We have learned in Sifrei Devarim (paragraph 226, ed. Finkelstein, p. 258; cf. Midrash Tannaim to Deut. 22, 5, p. 134):

“Nor shall a man wear woman’s clothing”(7)… therefore it says toevah [=abomination], something which leads to an abomination — this is a rule of thumb: that a woman should not dress the way the man dresses and go among the men, and the man should not adorn himself with women’s jewelry and go among the women … (8)

However, it should be emphasized that the Tanna is specifically opposed to “women’s jewelry”, while we are dealing with unisex jewelry worn both by men and women. In any case, this opinion was not accepted as halakhah. In the parallel Baraita in Nazir 59a there is no mention of “women’s jewelry”.

Indeed, the major poskim [= halakhic authorities] ruled according to Nazir and not according to Sifrei Devarim. Moreover, they stressed that these prohibitions are determined by the social mores of the time and place. (9) And thus wrote Maimonides in his Sefer Hamitzvot (Negative, No. 40): “and any man who adorned himself or wore what is known in that place that that form is special for women – receives lashes [for transgressing a negative commandment]”. And so ruled Maimonides in his Laws of Idol Worship 12, 10: “And a man shall not adorn himself with the adornments of women, such as wearing colored clothing and a gold ornament, in a place where only women wear those clothes and put on that ornament — everything is according to local custom”.

And so ruled the Tur (Yoreh De’ah 182): “A woman shall not wear clothes which are special for men according to local custom.” Rabbi Yosef Karo quoted from the Mishneh Torah (loc. cit.) word for word in Yoreh Deah 182:5 (except for the last three words).

Thus, we have learned that boys and men wore earrings in Biblical times. In the Tannaitic period, there were Sages who tried to ban men from wearing women’s jewelry, but this opinion was not quoted in the Babylonian Talmud. Afterwards, the major poskim emphasized the sociological aspect of the matter and banned jewelry for men only if that same jewelry was intended for use by women at that time and place. Since today it’s customary for both women and men to wear earrings and nose rings, there is no general prohibition, because in this matter “everything is according to local custom”. (10)

III) Mora Av Va’em – Fearing one’s father and mother

We are commanded in Leviticus 19, 3: “You shall each fear his mother and his father” and the Sages explained (Kiddushin 31b at bottom and parallels): “Our Sages have taught [in a Baraita]: what is fear? And he does not contradict his words, and he does not tip the scale (makhrio)”.  There are different approaches to the meaning of the phrase “and he does not contradict his words.” Many Rishonim [medieval authorities, ca. 1000-1550] and poskim quote the phrase without explaining it.(11) Rashi did not explain the phrase, but interpreted the adjacent phrase: “And does not makhrio – if his father and another Sage disagree about a halakhic issue,  he should not say ‘the opinion of ploni seems correct’ ”. Rabbi Meir Halevi Abulafia (Haramah, Spain, 1165-1244) reacted: “This is unnecessary, for it’s the same as “contradicts his words”, but rather even if he agrees with his father’ he should not say “I agree with the words of Abba” for he seems to be tipping the scale in favor of his father (makhria), rather if he has a reply to those who disagree, let him say it. (12) In other words, according to the Ramah, both of these expressions deal with halakhic controversies. “To contradict him” means to agree with his father’s opponent; makhrio means to tip the scale in favor of his father.

However, with all due respect, there is no hint in the Baraita that it’s talking about halakhic controversies. According to its simple meaning, the phrase “and does not contradict his words” refers to any kind of contradiction. Indeed, this is how Rabbi Hananel son of Rabbi Shmuel, son-in-law of Maimonides (Egypt, 12^th-13^th centuries),(13) explained the phrase (Commentary to Kiddushin, ed. Blau, New York, 5730, p. 256): “And contradicts his words: in worldly affairs“. A similar interpretation was given by Rabbi Pinchas Halevi Horowitz (Frankfurt, 1730-1805) in his Sefer Hamakneh to the tractate of Kiddushin: “It seems that anything which his father commands him to do — even regarding a thing which he has no benefit from which is not included in “honor [your father”] — even so, if the son has no [financial] loss from it, it’s included in fear [=mora], that if he does not obey him, he is like one who contradicts his words and he must listen to him”. (14)

The commandment of mora av va’em, to fear one’s father and mother applies of course all the time, but it’s especially worth mentioning in our context, because nowadays this specific issue causes a lot of tensions and conflicts between parents and their children, particularly when it comes to piercing unusual parts of the body (see below). Thus, children and adolescents who want to pierce their bodies must consider not only their will but also their parents’ will. If their parents object, they must obey in order to observe the commandment of mora av va’em as interpreted by the above commentators.

IV) Piercing other parts of the body

In recent years, there is a growing trend to wear earrings in many body parts besides the nose and ear, including: eyebrows, eyes, lips, cheeks, tongues, navels, nipples and all parts of the genitals. (15)

At first glance, there is a precedent for jewelry in the nipple and the uterus. We read in Numbers 31, 50 (and cf. Exodus 35, 22):”So we have brought as an offering to the Lord such articles of gold as each of us came upon: armlets, bracelets, signet rings, agil and kumaz, that expiation may be made for our persons before the Lord”.

The Talmud attempted to explain these two words in Shabbat 64a: “Rabbi Elazar said: agil is a defuss [= form, mould] of nipples, kumaz is a defuss of the uterus”. Rashi explains the second phrase in his commentary to the parallel section in Berakhot 24a, s.v. takhshitin shebifnim: “Kumaz — a defuss of the uterus that they would make for their daughters, and they would pierce the walls of the uterus as one pierces the ears and insert it so that men would not have relations with them”.

In other words, according to Rashi, kumaz means a “chastity belt”, and Rabbah hints at this later on in the sugya in Shabbat, using a notarikon: “KuMaZ – Kan Mekom Zima”, here is a place of lewdness”.

However, these sources cannot be a precedent for piercing the genitals today for four reasons:

1. Rabbi Elazar apparently did not mean jewelry that enters a hole in the body, but rather “defuss shel dadin” means a bra and “defuss shel beit harehem” is a type of girdle or corset. (16)
2. The kumaz described by Rashi was done for the sake of modesty, while nowadays there is a common belief that rings in the genitals increase sexual pleasure. (17)
3. The explanation of Rabbah for kumaz is a popular etymology, but it’s not the simple meaning of the verse.
4. Indeed, some modern scholars believe that the obscure word kumaz is related to the Arabic word kumzat which means a small ball or “cluster, pile, bunch, heap” and therefore kumaz might be a necklace of balls or a single ball. (18) If so, there is absolutely no connection between that word and our topic.

In any case, modesty is one of the sublime values of Judaism, which is why our Sages tried to prevent “sinful thoughts” based on the verse “Do not come near to uncover nakedness” (Leviticus 18, 6). (19) In our day, piercing the genitals stems, as noted, from a desire to increase sexual pleasure. Indeed, married couples are allowed to enjoy sexual relations in different ways, (20) but nowadays most young people and teenagers who pierce their genitals are not married and the Va’ad Halakhah [=Law Committee] of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel has expressed opposition to premarital sex. (21) Therefore, rings in the genitals of singles and teenagers are inconsistent with the Jewish values of modesty and should not be done.

V) Medical complications

In Chapter 4 of his Hilkhot Deot, Maimonides lists a long list of things that a person should do to maintain his health. Most of them are taken from Talmudic literature, but some are undoubtedly derived from Maimonides’ experience as a physician. In Halakhah 1, he explains the guiding principle in the chapter:

Since the body being healthy and whole is of the ways of God, for it’s impossible to understand or know anything from the knowledge of the Creator if one is sick, therefore one must distance oneself from things that destroy the body and accustom oneself to things that heal [the body]. And these are: a person should never eat except when he is hungry, and should not drink except when he is thirsty, and he should not hold in his urine even one moment…

In addition to Maimonides’ warning, there is another important halakhic concept that warns of physical dangers. It says in Deuteronomy (4, 9): “but guard yourself and guard your soul very much” and again (4, 15): “and you shall guard your souls very much”. According to the simple meaning, these verses warn against forgetting the Torah (v. 9) and against idol worship (v. 15), but our Sages wove them into an Aggadic [non-legal] passage which deals with physical danger in order to say: Jews must protect their physical health (Berakhot 32b, at bottom).

Maimonides also saw in these verses a warning against physical dangers. After a warning to cover open pits and the like, he continues (Hilkhot Rotzeah Ushemirat Hanefesh 11, 4): “And so too every stumbling block which is liable to kill, it’s a positive commandment to remove it and to guard against it and to be very, very careful, as it is said, “but guard yourself and guard your soul” (Deut. 4, 9)”. This ruling was later copied by the Shulhan Arukh (Hoshen Mishpat  427, 8).

Similarly, our Sages forbade many things because of danger, including putting coins in one’s mouth lest they have on them dry saliva of people afflicted by boils or of lepers (Maimonides, ibid., 11, 4 – 12, 6). Moreover, Maimonides (ibid., 12, 6), Rabbi Yosef Karo (Hoshen Mishpat 427, 10) and Rabbi Moshe Isserles (the Rema, Yoreh De’ah 116, 5 at the end) emphasized that these are merely examples, and that one should beware of “of all similar dangers” (Maimonides). (22)

Indeed, we have proven elsewhere that smoking is forbidden because it’s a definite risk which harms every smoker and every person in his/her proximity. (23) Body piercing, on the other hand, does not constitute a definite risk that is harmful to everyone who pierces his/her body and therefore cannot be banned outright because of danger. Nevertheless, medical studies show that body piercing entails quite a few risks and medical complications: (24)

1. Studies have shown that the infection rate for ear piercing is 11-24% (Samantha et al) or up to 35% (Schorzman) and 10-30% for body piercings in general (Schorzman).
2. A study by two dentists showed that piercing of the tongue, lips and cheeks, is liable to cause speech disorders and infections. In addition, the pierced people risk chipped or cracked teeth and airway obstruction if they inhale the earrings into their lungs (Price and Lewis). A study of people with oral piercings in Rome showed that 42% showed signs of gingivitis, 20% had 3-4mm recessions, and 22% had cracked teeth due to piercing (Covello et al). “Most professional medical and dental bodies are strongly against tongue piercing” (Messahel and Musgrove, p. 11).
3. In England, among young people aged 16-24 who underwent body piercing, 31% reported complications and 15% sought professional help. “Almost one in every 100 piercings in this age group resulted in a hospital admission” (Bone et al).
4. The piercing “gun” cannot be disinfected and therefore there is a risk of transmitting hepatitis and other infections (Samantha et al; Schorzman; Messahel and Musgrove).
5. HIV may be transmitted through unsterile needles (Samantha et al; Pugatch et al; Covello et al)
6. There is little or no supervision of the piercers and many of them do not take minimum precautions.

In light of these studies, it would be desirable to avoid all kinds of body piercing according to the principle of “a healthy and whole body is of the ways of God.” However, there is a well-known Talmudic principle that “one only makes a decree on the public if the majority of the public can endure it” (Bava Batra 60b and parallels). It would very difficult to forbid piercing entirely since piercing in general is practiced by up to 51% of the population in developed countries (Schorzman) and body piercing in parts of the body other than ears is practiced by 14% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 (Halloran) and 10% in England aged 16 and up (Bone et al).

Therefore, if after careful consideration and examination of the risks, one still decides to pierce the body, one should take precautions such as these recommended by The American Academy of Dermatology in 2014 (Halloran; items 5-6 are from Armstrong, p. 238 and Muldoon, p. 299):

1. An autoclave should be used to sterilize all non-disposable equipment.
2. Sterile or disposable needles should be used for all piercings.
3. The piercer must wash his/her hands and put on a fresh pair of surgical gloves for each procedure.
4. One should use hypoallergenic jewelry made of surgical grade stainless steel, titanium, 14- or 18-karat gold, or niobium, especially for initial piercings.
5. The area being pierced should be cleaned before piercing with antibacterial soap.
6. The hole should be cleaned twice a day, but not with alcohol.

VI) Summary and Practical Halakhah

1.  In general, it’s permissible to pierce the ears and nose, according to all the precedents cited above.
2. If parents object to body piercing, children and adolescents must listen to their parents, following the mitzvah of mora av va’em, “fearing one’s father and mother” as explained above.
3. The wearing of genital rings by teenagers and singles is not in line with the Jewish values of modesty and should not be done.
4. There are numerous medical risks in all types of body piercing. If someone nevertheless decides to pierce his/her body, he/she should take precautions such as those listed above in order to “guard yourself and guard your soul very much”.

David Golinkin
Jerusalem
Tu B’av 5783

 Notes

* The abbreviations in the notes refer to the Bibliography below. This responsum was originally written in Hebrew, approved by the Va’ad Halakhah of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel in Elul 5758, September 1998 and published in The Responsa of the Vaad Halakhah of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel 6 (5755-5759), pp. 241-252, which can also be accessed at responsafortoday.com. It has been updated in this English translation, especially section V regarding medical complications.

1. See George Gray, International Critical Commentary to Isaiah 1-39, Edinburgh, 1912, p. 73; Amos Hakham, Da’at Mikra, Yishayahu, Jerusalem, 5744, p. 40; the new JPS translation: “the eardrops”; Krauss, p. 318, who interprets the word according to the word “שלמיני” in Yerushalmi Shabbat, Chapter 6, fol. 8b; and Hirschberg, p. 40. But cf. the Entziklopedia Mikrait that “there is no proof that the word refers to earrings specifically, since other jewelry was also made in the form of drops”.

2. At first glance, the last two examples prove that only prostitutes wore earrings and nose rings, but it’s clear from the other sources that this was a common custom among all women.

3. See, for example, Rubens, pp. 4, 66, 67, 72. It should be noted that there are many pictures there of women wearing earrings aside from those listed in the index.

4. But it’s possible that the nezem was considered a valuable gift regardless of who wore it — see Amos Hakham, Da’at Mikra, Iyov, Jerusalem, 5730, p. 332.

5. Cf. Exodus 21, 6 for the law of a Hebrew slave whose ear was pierced by an awl, but that verse does not teach much about our topic.

6. Tosefta Shabbat 1, 8, ed. Lieberman, p. 2: The editio princeps and MS Vienna have the reading “שבצוארו”, while MSS Erfurt and London have the reading “שבאזנו” as in the Babylonian Talmud. Also cf. the parallel source in Yerushalmi Shabbat 1, 3, fol. 3b, as well as Avot D’rabi Natan, Version B, Chapter 21, ed. Schechter, p. 45.

7. Apparently, the Torah forbade this practice because it was associated with idol worship. See Maimonides, Sefer Hamitzvot and Mishneh Torah quoted below and Moreh Nevukhim 3, 37; Entziklopedia Mikrait, Vol. 9, col. 467; S.R. Driver, International Critical Commentary on Deuteronomy, third edition, Edinburgh, 1901, pp. 250-251; Harry Hoffner, JBL 85 (1966), pp. 326-334; W. H. Ph. Romer, in: Travels in the World of the Old Testament, Assen, 1974, pp. 217-222; Theodor Gaster, Myth, Legend and Custom in the Old Testament, Vol. I, Gloucester, Mass., 1981, pp. 316-318.

8. Krauss, p. 307, was of the opinion that the Tanna in Midrash Tannaim (and in Sifrei Devarim) believed that “תכשיט” means clothing, but this seems unlikely since the word “תכשיט” meaning jewelry is so common in Rabbinic literature.

9. And cf. Rabbi Chaim Wiener regarding pants for women in the Responsa of the Vaad Halakhah 4 (5750-5752), p. 59 (Hebrew).

10. Rabbi Allen in his responsum raises the question of whether body piercing should be prohibited because of havalah, self-wounding, because in the opinion of most poskim a person is not allowed to wound himself. See Mishnah Bava Kama 8, 6; Tosefta Bava Kama 9, 31, ed. Lieberman, p. 49; Bavli Bava Kama 91a-b; Entziklopedia Talmudit, s.v. Hovel, vol. 12, cols. 681-682; and what I wrote in the Responsa of the Va’ad Halakhah (above, note 9), p. 43. Moreover, the Mishnah forbids a person to ask another person to wound him (Bava Kama 8, 7). He replies that it’s clear from the above sources that the Sages did not consider ear and nose piercing to be self-wounding and therefore should not be prohibited for this reason. One may add that havalah is usually a blow made in anger in order to injure, whereas piercing is done calmly in order to adorn one’s body. Cf. Rabbi Greenblatt who also rules that piercing is not havalah and Rabbi Avraham Steinberg, Entziklopedia Hilkhatit Refuit, Vol. 4, Jerusalem, 5754, col. 607 in a discussion of cosmetic plastic surgery.

11. The Rif, Kiddushin 31b, ed. Vilna, fol. 13a; Rambam, Hilkhot Mamrim 6, 3; the Rosh, Kiddushin, Chapter 1, paragraph 50; the Meiri, Kiddushin, ed. Sofer, p. 184; Piskei Harid, Kiddushin, ed. Liss, Jerusalem, 5737, col. 324.

12. The quote is taken from Tur Yoreh Deah 240, and cf. Kesef Mishneh to the Rambam, ibid., for a similar quote.

13. For details regarding the life of Rabbi Hananel son of Rabbi Shmuel, see Yitzhak Sona, Rabbeinu Hananel b”r Shmuel Al Harif L’massekhet Kiddushin, Jerusalem, 5735, pp. 5-25; S.D. Goitein, Tarbitz 50 (5741), pp. 371-395; Yosef Yinon (Fenton), ibid., 55 (5746), pp. 77-107.

14. His words are quoted in the Sefer Hamitzvot of Maimonides, ed. Rabbi Chaim Heller, Jerusalem, 5706, p. 88, note 5. For a discussion as to whether kibud av va’em, honoring one’s father and mother, applies to something which does not benefit the parents, see ibid.; a responsum by Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, quoted by his son Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Sefer Hilkhot Kibbud Av Va’em, Jerusalem, 5750, pp. 24-25 in note 8; and Gerald Blidstein, Honor Thy Father and Mother, New York, 1975, pp. 83-84 and p. 196, note 27.

15. This phenomenon is mentioned in most of the articles listed in the Bibliography, Section 3. Bone et al, who surveyed over 10,000 adults aged 16 or more, give exact statistics according to body part (Table 2).

16. Thus I concluded based on the important discussion by Hirschberg, p. 41, notes 3-5. Cf. the parallel Talmudic passage in Yerushalmi Shabbat 8, 4, fol. 8b.

17. This is what I heard from Rabbi David Lazar, who heard it from many teenagers, and this is what Armstrong wrote, p. 237, based on two previous studies.

18. See Brown, Driver, Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford, 1907, p. 484, s.v. כמז; Entziklopedia Mikrait, Vol. 8, col. 548; N.H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers, London, 1967, p. 329. Eliezer Ben-Yehudah, Milon Halashon Ha’ivrit, Vol. 3, New York and London, 1960, p. 2288, notes 2-3 stressed that the origin and exact meaning of the word are unknown.

19. See a good summary by Rabbi Chaim Wiener (above, note 9), pp. 54-57.

20. Yevamot 34b and Tosafot, ibid., s.v. v’lo; Nedarim 20a-b; Rambam, Hilkhot Issurei Biah 21:9; Tur Even Ha’ezer, beginning of paragraph 25; Shulhan Arukh, ibid., 25, 2 in the Rema; Rabbi Michael Gold, Does God Belong in the Bedroom?, Philadelphia and Jerusalem, 1992, pp. 81-83.

21. See Rabbi Pesach Schindler in the Responsa of the Va’ad Halakhah (above, note 9), pp. 81-90.

22. This section thus far is an abridgment of what I wrote ibid., pp. 41-42. And cf. my recent responsum regarding vaccinations in David Golinkin, Responsa in a Moment, Vol. V, Jerusalem, 2021, pp. 260-262.

23. See the Responsa of the Va’ad Halakhah (above, note 9), pp. 37-52.

24. See all the medical studies listed in the Bibliography below, Section 3. The most thorough articles are Samantha et al and Bone et al.

 Bibliography

1. Responsa

Rabbi Wayne Allen, “Body Piercing”, Update 9 (1998), pp. 5-11, 16-17 = idem, Perspectives on Jewish Law and Contemporary Issues, Jerusalem, 2009, pp. 223-228, 219-220

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach to Modern Medical Ethics, Philadelphia and Jerusalem, 1998, pp. 267-270

Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt, in: Rabbi Marc Shapiro, editor, Igrot Malkhei Rabbanan, Scranton, 5779, No. 81 = Responsa Rivevot Ephraim, Part 5, No. 526

Rabbi Walter Jacob, Contemporary American Reform Responsa, New York, 1987, No. 76

Rabbi Alan Lucas, “Tattooing and Body Piercing”, in: Rabbis Kassel Abelson and David Fine, eds., Responsa 1991-2000, New York, 2002, pp. 115-120 (also available at rabbinicalassembly.org, CJLS, YD 180.1997)

Rabbi Mark Washofsky, “Tattooing, Body Piercing and Jewish Tradition”, Reform Responsa for the Twenty-First Century, Sh’eilot Ut’shuvot, Volume 1 (1996-1999), New York, 2010, pp. 357-364 (also available at ccarnet.org, NYP No. 5759.4)

2. The use of jewelry by Jews throughout the generations

Entziklopedia Mikrait, Vol. 8, cols. 547-548, s.v. takhshitim

A.Sh.Hirshberg, “Yofya v’hityaputah shel haishah biyemei hatalmud”, He’atid 4 (5672/1912), pp. 40-41

Shmuel Krauss, Kadmoniot Hatalmud, 2, 2, Tel Aviv, 5705, pp. 318-319

Julius Preuss, Biblical and Talmudic Medicine, New York, 1978, p. 78

Alfred Rubens, A History of Jewish Costume, enlarged edition, London, 1973

3. Medical Literature

Myrna Armstrong, “You Pierced What?”, Pediatric Nursing 22/3 (May-June 1996), pp. 236-238

Angie Bone, Fortune Ncube, Tom Nichols, Norman Noah, “Body Piercing in England…”, The BMJ 2008;336:1426 (19 June 2008), at: www.bmj.com (an in-depth survey of over 10,500 people in England in 2005)

Francesco Covello et al, “Piercing and Oral Health…”, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 613, at: www.mdpi.com

Anthony Diangelis, “The Lingual Barbell: A New Etiology for the Cracked-Tooth Syndrome”, Journal of the American Dental Association 128/10 (October 1997), pp. 1438-1439

Elsie Goicochea, Body Piercing and Health Complications Among College Students in Puerto Rico, PhD dissertation, Walden University, 2017, pp. 12-24

Laurel Halloran, “Body Piercing: Avoiding Complications”, The Journal for Nurse Practitioners — JNP 11/1 (January 2015), pp. 142-143

Ahmed Messahel, Brian Musgrove, “Infective Complications of Tattooing and Skin Piercing”, Journal of Infection and Public Health 2 (2009), pp. 7-13

Kelley Muldoon, “Body Piercing in Adolescents”, Journal of Pediatric Health Care 11/6 (November-December 1997), pp. 298-301

Sheila Price and Maurice Lewis, “Body Piercing Involving Oral Sites”, Journal of the American Dental Association 128/7 (July 1997), pp. 1017-1020

David Pugatch, Maria Mileno and Josiah Rich, “Possible Transmission of HIV Type 1 from Body Piercing”, Clinical Infectious Diseases 26/3 (March 1998), pp. 767-768

Samantha, M. Tweeten, and Leland Rickman, “Infectious Complications of Body Piercing”, Clinical Infectious Diseases 26/3 (March 1998), pp.735-740 (a thorough article with 82 footnotes)

Cindy Schorzman, “Common Complications Involved in Body Piercing”, Wounds International 1/5 (June 1999), at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Image: Pagan Body Piercing, Call-Lane, Betty Longbottom