The Torah prohibits, generally, the infliction of a wound on yourself or someone else. See Lev. 19:28. The obvious exception is the commandment to perform a bris millah (circumcision) on a male convert or eight-day-old Jewish male. But from where do we find a justification to pierce a girl's ear or nose? I know that, in Rivka, we have precedent for piercings, but how is that justified against the commandment?
Answer
The original question as well as @SAH challenge seem to imply that the Torah forbids piercings. This belief is possibly coming from the prohibition of tatoos as the prohibition to injure oneself. But as we will say the halacha doesn't necessarily consider all body piercings forbidden.
As context, plastic surgery (a more extreme form of bodily injury for beauty) is generally forbidden except when it serves to reduce pain or suffering coming from a bodily deformation. The reason is that the Torah prohibits wounding another person (Devarim 25:3) and the Gemara (end of Bava Kama 91a) states that this prohibition applies even to wounding oneself. The broader background is that the Torah doesn't consider a person's body to be his to do what he wants with it. It is an instrument in the service of God.
The Rambam writes that this prohibition applies when it is performed in a painful and degrading manner. R Moshe Feinstein (Choshen Mishpat 2:66) infers from the Rambam that if the wounding is done in a beneficial manner the prohibition of chavalah (to others or oneself) does not apply. An individual may wound himself if it is done for his benefit and with his consent. As such RMF allows plastic surgery for beautification to find a husband.
Addressing the same question of a girl performing cosmetic surgery to facilitate finding a husband, R Breisch allows it for another reason based on Tosfot (Shabbat 50b, sv Bishvil) allowing removing scabs from a body because of psychological pain (“If the only pain that he suffers is that he is embarrassed to walk among people then it is permissible, because there is no greater pain than this.”)
R Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss (an important posek in matters of medical halacha) agrees that the prohibition against wounding oneself is only relevant if it is done in a destructive or disrespectful manner (Minchat Yitzchak 6:105). Since body piercings do not involve physical dangers nor are they destructive or disrespectful, it would appear that this interdiction also doesn't apply.
The above provide the halachic justification for earrings.
Interestingly, the poskim who rule against cosmetic surgery (e.g., R Eliezer Waldenberg, the Tzitz Eliezer), do it on the basis of the danger involved and the interdiction to place oneself in danger. But perhaps even he would allow pierced ears as there are several opinions that say the prohibition of self wounding does not apply when there is no bleeding.
Body piercings are somewhat more complicated than earrings and depend on the reasons motivating the piercing. Doing it for beauty is allowed. Imitating the non-Jewish world is not because of the prohibition of hukot hagoyim (SA YD 178), and, depending of the piercing's erotic appeal, the commandment to be holy (Vayikra 19:2) and the notion of Tzelem Elokim (man being in the image of God).
PS. The fact that Rivka was possibly wearing a nose ring doesn't necessarily mean this is allowed or disallowed. The topic of our patriarchs observing all of Torah is not taken literally by many commentators and cannot be used to decide halacha.
PPS. The above is limited to women (as per the original question). The issue of men piercings is different since we men are forbidden to act in the way of women (SA YD 182:1 and 182:5), so it would be forbidden in a society where only women typically wear piercings, although there might be possible allowances if the wound is not permanent.
See R Jachter here for the sources on plastic surgery used above and more here, here and there.
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