When I got my first tattoo, my mom freaked out that I wouldn't be able to be buried in a Jewish cemetary. She spoke to her rabbi about that, and he said that is an outdated tradition and they do not prevent people with tattoos from being buried in Jewish cemetaries anymore.

Not that it matters, because I plan to be creamated, but I thought you'd like to know.

Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

That's interesting. But, I wonder if that varies by location. I'd wager that more orthodox run cemetaries would care. But, that brings up another question.. when does a tradition become outdated? And, who decides it is outdated? (since Judism has no central person like the Pope). Can a Rabbi decide that, ohhhh.. Passover is outdated?

Hmmm...I have no idea. I'm not exactly a very good Jew. The last time I set foot inside a temple was for my little sister's Bat Mitzvah when she was 13, and she is 23 now. My parents do go to a Reform temple, but you're probably right that Orthodox temples are more strict. I'll have to ask my parents to ask their rabbi.

Stephanie

You know who's part Jewish? Jamie Lynn Sigler. AKA Meadow Soprano. She's freakin' beautiful.

Yeah, she's pretty damn hot.

in terms of muslim burial rituals. regardless of how bad a person you were, you still deserve a decent burial when you die. that whole family was horrible, and i feel the world is better off without them in any position of power (or life in some cases), but a decent burial, according to local traditions/customs is still necessary. if we were to think of how we personally, emotionally, felt about their lives and then buried them improperly, that'd be very low and childish. certain respect needs to be shown for the dead, regardless of how their lives were lived.

Hi Omar,

But, it seems that they were only Muslim by label, not by practice. Isn't it against Muslim laws to murder other Muslims? Isn't that one of the things done by these men? Just because you are born into a Muslim family (or any religion) doesn't mean you are a person of that religion. If you don't follow the laws of that religion, and walk in the footsteps of your prophet, then you have nothing more than a label. Many have said that Saddam is a fake Muslim... just doing things for show. His actions, and his sons actions, seem to go directly against precepts of the Muslim religion. Honoring them as a Muslim seems to degrade the religion. You are Muslim (or any religion) based on your actions, not on your label.

Were the mass graves Shiites and others were thrown into respectful? No.

though the muslim people have changed drastically over the last few hundred years, they seem more and more like anyother group of humans all the time. in my personal view, which is not to be defended, people are people. they are not much different from other groups of the same organism.

justice, peace, war, hate, love, all emotions and ideas based on the sense interpretations. so one must ask when trying to dissect the "why" of anything, is anything really pure? are all these things tainted by over all rational and sense?

what may seem evident is that upholding muslim traditions in death are they way of their people. true.
but what is the way of most people, is to be utterly disgusted by what some individuals do! especially by accounts of what happened to the shiite, who has any ounce of care for those long-upheld muslim traditions??

all the "problems" in the middle east are as representational of the human's defective nature as any other. most are based on misunderstanding, confusion, hate, greed, etc. fundamentally, to hope for a sudden change in heart for any people of the world, is as about as hopeful as saying americans will give up their yards so that starving homeless from around the world can live in them!

i, personally, am more moved by the amount of damage one does in life, than to say that i give a crap about their condition of passing in death.

sorry if i offend anyone, but voices always collide.

spon.

I have a question about the Jewish tradition of not burying any jewish person with a tattoo. What was done about with the remains of the jews that died in concentration camps? They were tattooed a numbers on there bodies, given it was unwanted? Just curious...Mahalo IZ

I once asked about this, and I was told it was because the tattoos were forced, not desired.