THE BINTEL BRIEF IS BACK:
Dear Esteemed Editor:
by
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe

Syosset, New York

That feature has been brought back and each month a different guest "eytse" (advice) columnist answers readers' questions on life, love, family, "arbet" (work), Judaism, Bar/Bat and Bark Mitzvahs.  Letters can be sent to
bintelblog@forward.com.  The letters are published anonymously.

Amy Sohn, Mayim Bialik, Lenore Skenazy, Hanna Rosin, Ed Koch, and Alan Dershowitz have been guest editors.

I'm very tempted to write the current editor the following question:

Dear Bintel Brief:

My "eynikl" (grandchild), is a high school sophomore.  Over the "vinter" (winter), I noticed that she had a tattoo of Rodney Dangerfield ("I can't get no respect") on her left shoulder.

Sure I know the jokes:

  "Do you realize that in about 2045,
  we'll have 'toyznts' (thousands) of
  old ladies running around with tattoos?"

  "Just because your tattoo has Chinese
  characters in it doesn't make you
  spiritual.  It translates to 'beef with
  broccoli.'"
       Bill Maher

Should I tell my granddaughter that tattooing is specifically prohibited in the Bible:  Leviticus 19:29, and that body piercing used to be something you only saw in National Geographic?  Her "elter-bobe" (great-grandmother) thought that the only people who had tattooes were sailors and "motosikel" (motorcycle) gang members.

Should I explain to my "eynikl" that getting a tattoo disgraces the memory of the Holocaust and its survivors?  It's a slap in the face to survivors  Rachel Freedenberg (Jweekly.com), wrote, "It's not exactly a secret that the Nazis tattooed Jews during the Holocaust partly because it was religiously verboten."

Or, should I keep my mouth shut and do "gornisht" (nothing)?

         A concerned "bobe"

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___________________________________________
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe is the author of
two books:

"Yiddish for Dog & Cat Lovers" and
"Are Yentas, Kibitzers, & Tummlers Weapons of Mass Instruction?  Yiddish
Trivia."  To order a copy, go to her
website: MarjorieGottliebWolfe.com

NU, what are you waiting for?  Order the book!