Hebrew Tattoos

The craze for Hebrew tattoos is driven by the rising popularity of the language's symbolism for movie stars and other celebrities. As such, Hebrew tattoos have gained notoriety over the last few years, in trend with other tattoo art, thanks in no small part to figures like Victoria Beckham, Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

For some, a Hebrew tattoo can express a deep spiritual connection - whether for love, faith, or courage. For others, however, especially for those of a more Orthodox nature, Hebrew is a sacred language.

The old guard frowns upon tattooing some words in Hebrew anywhere in the body (in fact, Leviticus 19:28 says, "You shall not make cuts in your body...nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD."). As forbidding as the scripture might sound, Hebrew tattoos are still highly sought-after.

Hebrew Script

In order to have a true Hebrew tattoo, one must refer to the Hebrew script. Hebrew is a very elegant, pictorial language, what makes the Hebrew script perfect for tattoos. Here is the alphabet (it has some very similar letters):

The search for "Hebrew tattoos" on any engine will invariably bring up dozens of websites offering photos of Hebrew words tattooed on the skin, all with varying degrees of accuracy.

The Hebrew script is quite complex; moving the placement of a vowel in the script might turn your declaration of "love" into "leather" -- or your "freedom" into a "vacation." Buyer beware!

This only reinforces the necessity for an accurate translation for your Hebrew tattoo, especially if you plan upon having it done in consonants-only, as the script was originally written.

So, don't take any risks and click here for a professional Hebrew translation...

Some facts about the Hebrew script:

• Hebrew is written from the right to the left.
• The Hebrew alphabet has 27 letters.
• Hebrew is an abjad type of writing system, all symbols of the alphabet stand for a consonant and the reader must supply the correct vowel himself.
• Hebrew letters can also be used as numbers (common in the Kabbalah).
• There's also a system called niqqud that uses vowel points to indicate vowels. It's used in poetry, prayer books, foreign words, ...
  
  Here is the Hebrew transliteration of the name "Sharon" with niqqud:
  
  
  
  Here is the same name, without niqqud: