Is it permitted for a child (or adult) to get “Henna” (a form of temporary tattoo)?
Answer:
This is permitted.
Having said this, it is not necessarily recommended (see below).
Best wishes.
Sources:
The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 180:1-3) defines a tattoo as a scratch in the flesh that is refilled with ink or anything else that leaves a mark. Two actions are thus needed in order to transgress the Torah prohibition: 1) a scratch, and 2) writing within the scratch.
Some Rishonim write that the time duration for the tattoo mentioned by the Torah is forever (Rashi, Vayikra 19:28), and others mention “a long time” (Nimukei Yosef Makkos 4b of the pages of the Rif).
The Minchas Chinuch (253) proves from a Tosafos (Gittin 20b) that writing with none-erasable ink involves a rabbinic prohibition, though many dispute this interpretation. The Shevet Halevi (3:111) writes that the statement of the Minchas Chinuch is hard to understand, for it appears from the Tosafos Ha-Rosh (who writes similarly to Tosafos) that the rabbinic prohibition applies only to somebody who performs one of the prohibited actions: He either scratches his flesh without filling it with ink, or fills in a place on his skin that was already scratched – but writing on the body without a scratch at all is not mentioned in their words.
According to this it is clear that in a case of temporary henna tattoos which are placed on top of the skin and do not last for more than a few weeks, there is no prohibition, neither from the Torah nor by rabbinic law. Even according to the Minchas Chinuch, writing on one’s body is only forbidden when done with none-erasable ink, so that in our case (henna tattoos are very temporary and are erased after a short time) there is no concern.
Regarding maris ayin (the prohibition of projecting a wrong impression) it seems clear that there is no prohibition here, because the prohibition does not apply where onlookers can assume that the deed was done in a permitted manner, and it is well known that there are all kinds of temporary tattoos.
In spite of all of the above, tattoos – even temporary ones – are not necessarily recommended, for they potentially involve an adaptation of non-Jewish culture. It will not be formally prohibited, however, for this is not a matter of immodesty, and in practice the matter will depend on personal circumstances, the type of tattoo, social norms, and so on.
