Question:
I know that Judaism forbids tattoos and, I think, some piercings. But what about plastic surgery, or face-lifts, or other elective cosmetic surgery, where the only point is to improve your appearance?

Answer:
The answer to this one is not simple, and probably requires some common sense, as well as a modicum of social consciousness.

The Bible explicitly prohibits “engraving any marks” on our bodies, which we interpret as forbidding tattoos. The only question is why. Some tie the practice to pagan rituals, or, more broadly, “the customs of gentiles.” But others say the issue is wounding the body. According to this viewpoint, the body is our gift from God, we are created in God’s image, and it’s therefore forbidden to wound ourselves, even if the purpose of the wound is to improve how we look. Some rabbis forbid all non-essential surgery (including abortion!) because of the command not to wound. Judaism simply does not allow us to harm ourselves physically.

But obviously this prohibition is not absolute. Most piercings, in fact, are allowed. Many Biblical characters, including the matriarch Rebecca, wore ear and nose rings. Jewish tradition in general encourages us to look our best. A moving Midrash compliments the Israelite women in Egypt for maintaining their good lucks, and therefore the morale of the men, by, among other things, wearing earrings and other jewelry.

Today, many people wonder about stranger piercings, like navel rings, or tongue studs, or piercings in the most intimate portions of our body. I wouldn’t forbid these practices under the category of “wounding,” because, after all, we are explicitly allowed to “wound” our ears and noses for the sake of appearance. However, the point of a navel ring is to attract someone’s attention to a more intimate body-part (not to mention piercings below the navel), and this, it seems to me, conflicts with Jewish teachings on modesty. I would say that any ring that appeals explicitly to prurient desires is, if not prohibited, certainly counter to Jewish ethics.

But what about cosmetic surgery, from what I understand, a fifteen billion dollar industry in the United States? Facelifts, nose-jobs, breast implants – by definition these things involve some “wounding;” you can’t do them without a scalpel (or at least a laser). And lately we’ve discovered that there are potentially serious consequences to these wounds. A famous rapper’s mother recently died after plastic surgery.

But several doctors I spoke to reassured me that there’s practically no danger to the great, great majority of cosmetic surgeries. So I wouldn’t prohibit the practice because of the prohibition against wounding or harming our health. To me, the issue is one of body image. We live in a culture that’s literally obsessed with appearance. We have the highest rates of anorexia and bulimia in the Western World, along with the highest rates of obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, binge dieting, and teen suicide (a phenomena often related to obsession over appearance). All this, in addition to an entertainment and clothing industry that continues to project images of bodily perfection. We – particularly teenagers, but, really, all of us – are in the grips of a mass hysteria over how we look and dress. Given this reality, I’d say we owe it to our culture to develop a higher regard for how we look, regardless of the potential for a surgeon to make us look better. Obsession over appearance now creates genuine harm to many young people (and many adults). If one of our principal teachings is that we’re created in God’s image, then we should certainly be able to learn to love how we look, and therefore value our bodies the way they are.

Which is not to say that elective, cosmetic surgery is forbidden by Jewish law. In fact, it’s probably allowed (it would certainly be allowed, for example, for cancer patients). But, for me, this would be a case of something permitted, but not encouraged (the rabbinic term is “rule, but don’t teach.”) Yes, the scalpel could conceivably make some nice changes, and not wound us too deeply. But we should learn to say no.

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