The author Harry Crews once wrote, “”There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.” Sometimes, though, those scars are colorful, meaningful, and meant to be displayed.

Brother Noah Elder (Michigan State, 2020) is using his art and skills as a tattoo artist to promote healing in others through outreach and Healing Ink.

“I was a graphic design major at Michigan State. I was working in illustrations and was into comics and it was while I was in school that I started pursuing tattooing. I started my apprenticeship right there in East Lansing in a little tattoo shop near campus. I lived in the AEPi house in college for two years and was always around. I didn’t serve on e-board, but I got involved by designing all of our merchandise (t-shirts, etc.),”

After graduation, Noah intended to move to the west coast and continue his apprenticeship tattooing. When the pandemic struck, though, he stayed closer to home in Chicago’s suburbs and eventually found a position at a tattoo shop in the area. After following his professional mentor to another shop in Chicago, Noah had begun to establish his reputation and clientele.

‘Through this world of tattooing, I’ve met lots of cool people, got to go to lots of cool places and that’s how I met up with Artists for Israel and Healing Ink. Artists for Israel were originally collecting art supplies and sending them in boxes to kids in bomb shelters so they would have something to do but then they started getting graffiti artists from all around the world to visit Israel to beautify building and stuff that have been destroyed by terrorism. One of the board members started taking tours with some of the biggest names in the tattoo industry, bringing them to Israel to tattoo injured soldiers and people who were affected by terrorism.”

Healing Ink’s mission is to help the survivors and families of victims continue to heal physically and emotionally while celebrating the heroism of first responders. The organization has found that for many, tattooing is an untapped and powerful resource. The ways in which people find relief in tattooing is varied and individualistic. Manifesting emotional trauma in physical pain, commemorating the day, creating an opportunity for peers to ask questions, beauty or wanting to cover a scar and erase a memory, all provide a sense of agency and independence. The organization teaches that, “We cannot control what happened on that day. We can control how we respond.”

Following the horrific shooting incident at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois in 2022, Healing Ink came to the community and Noah got involved. “Highland Park is my hometown. My little brother was in that parade, and he was completely saved but it definitely affected me. The year after the shooting, someone got Healing Ink involved and I heard about it and contacted them and offered my services. I remember that I tattooed three survivors, people who lost family and a guy whose kids have been traumatized by it. It was just horrible stuff and especially because it happened in my hometown, where I grew up.”

After that first personal event, Noah kept up with the Healing Ink founder and continued to get involved when and where he could. “We were tattooing a lot of first responders from some of these tragedies. And then, in January or February of 2024, Artists for Israel brought a bunch of Israeli October 7 survivors out of the country to Los Angeles. They flew me to LA for that event and it was very moving. In the summer, I had the opportunity, through Healing Ink, to go to Israel and actually help people who were deeply affected by October 7.”

Since he has family and friends in Israel, Noah has visited several times previously. He even has tattoo clients there. “This time there was something different in the air. Tel Aviv felt like a ghost town. But, I was alongside some of the greatest artists in my field – we even had 50 Israeli artists with us. It was an honor. I got to learn from the people I was with I think there were 14 artists from outside of Israel that Healing Ink brought there. Everyone was there to help, which was incredible.”

Each of the 15 artists (including Noah) from outside of Israel did three tattoos for three different recipients.

“Those experiences of tattooing those three people have been the most meaningful tattoos I’ve ever given in my life. I tattooed a father who lost his son at the Nova Festival. I tattooed man who was shot in the head by terrorists, survived, and has had, I think, seven brain surgeries since. I tattooed a woman I whose community was burned to the ground. She was on border patrol. She lost everything…she lost lots of loved ones, lots of people.

You can feel the trauma from just talking to these people. It was horrible. I wake up sometimes still and think about these people and what they experienced. And I’m so happy I was able to give them something. You know, it’s not going to bring their child back. It’s not going to heal the wound from getting shot in the head. But it gave them something so they can say that they went through something. It let me give them something to help them reclaim this moment in their life. And it gives power to them.”

Tattoos as therapy? It’s not as unusual as you might think. “People come to me with a specific reason, a specific message they want. I do a lot of Hebrew lettering. I have a lot of people coming to me because they don’t feel safe getting tattooed by somebody who’s not Jewish with Hebrew or Israel imagery. I guess they know that if they come to me it’s going to be spelled correctly!”

“A lot of my brothers were recipients of my first tattoos. I’ve gotten a lot better since then! And the attitude for Jews towards tattoos is getting better. I grew up very tuned into Jewish life and I’ve done a lot of studying and more and more, the concept of getting tattoos is being accepted, even in more observant communities.”

It’s been a long journey from designing rush shirts for AEPi’s Chi Chapter to tattooing for a living and helping Israelis cope with their trauma and tragedy.

Find Noah on Instagram @the.tattoo.jew. Message him there to visit him in Chicago to learn more about his art.

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