Tag Archives: christians

Hebrew Tattoos.

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Tattoos in Hebrew have become very popular. I see them everywhere. Unfortunately, very few tattoo artists can actually read or write Hebrew, and this has led to a lot of misspelled and mistranslated Hebrew tattoos. Below is a tattoo on the arm of a man in Bentonville, Arkansas. He thought his tattoo meant ‘strength’ in Hebrew. It actually says ‘matzo.’ He had this tattoo on his arm for years before he found out the true meaning after he met a real Jew for the first time in his life, who translated it for him. The other picture is that of a more commonly misspelled Hebrew tattoo. The tattoo artist made a small mistake in the shape of one of the letters. This tattoo is supposed to be the name of God in Hebrew. Instead it says: ‘He shall be pregnant.’ This is not an isolated case. It appears that there are many other people in the United States, mostly fundamentalist Christians, with tattoos on them that say ‘He shall be pregnant”. Misspelled Hebrew tattoos have been seen all over the U.S. There are several web sites that just show pictures of misspelled Hebrew tattoos. Here is one of these web sites. Bad Hebrew Tattoos.

Jews and Tattoos. The Bible prohibits Jews from getting tattoos. In the Book of Leviticus it says: “You must not put tattoo markings upon yourself.” This line was part of a larger prohibition against idolatry. At the time the Old Testament was written, it was a common practice in the Middle East for people to tattoo the names and images of their gods on their bodies. Up until World War 2, it was generally only the orthodox Jews who took the Biblical prohibition on tattoos seriously, but after the war, tattoos became a taboo for Jews everywhere. Immediately upon entering Nazi concentration camps, Jews were tattooed with numbers on their arms. After the war, tattoos became an unpleasant and unwanted reminder of the Holocaust for Jews. Today, it is virtually impossible to find a tattoo artist who is Jewish or who can actually read Hebrew.

What Do You Know About Nero?

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I have been teaching history at junior high schools in the East Bay for a long time. I was just rereading some old homework papers and here is what I learned about the Roman emperor Nero.
  • Nero was raised by his mother. Nero’s father died years before he was born.
  • Nero murdered his mother. After that, she lost all control over him.
  • Nero murdered his wife by jumping up and down on her until he broke every bone in her body, but that didn’t count.
  • Nero was a very cruel emperor. Nero tortured Christians by forcing them to listen to his horrible fiddle playing. The Christians who survived that were then sent to the arena where hungry lions consummated them.
  • Soldiers rounded up the Christians in Rome and took them to the Coliseum where Nero lionized them.
  • Back in Nero’s time, Christians didn’t like being eaten by lions.
  • Nero burned down the city of Rome. He blamed the Christians for the fire but everybody in Rome knew that Nero started the fire himself to get even with them for booing at his awful fiddle playing.
  • Republican senators didn’t like Nero because he raised taxes sky high to pay for his toga parties.
  • Nero committed suicide by killing himself. 
  • After Nero died, an angry mob burned down his palace and smashed his fiddle.
  • Nero’s fiddle is at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
  • Nero was a member of Caesar family. The Caesars were famous for their salad long before Nero was born.
neroHmmm. I have a couple of cousins in Cincinnati who teach Latin and Roman history. I will have to check with them. I have some doubts about the accuracy of the facts above. I have wondered – What is the origin of often-told story that Nero fiddled while Rome burned? The fiddle wasn’t invented until the Middle Ages, more than 1,000 years after Nero died. And – it is my guess that most Christians probably still don’t like being eaten by lions.