{"id":843,"date":"2021-05-02T11:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-02T18:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843"},"modified":"2021-05-02T11:57:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T18:57:00","slug":"bechukotai-wagering-on-the-meaning-of-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843","title":{"rendered":"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parashat Bechukkotai is known for its aspect of <em>tokhechah<\/em>, admonition. This parashah details the consequences of pursuing God&rsquo;s laws (<em>chukkot<\/em>) and commandments (<em>mitzvot<\/em>), including the positive but dwelling upon the negative, in terms of sheer number and detail. The parashah begins, &ldquo;If you walk in my laws (<em>im bechukkotai telekhu<\/em>) and keep my commandments (<em>et mitzvotai tishmeru<\/em>),&rdquo; and continues with promises such as, &ldquo;I shall grant you rains at the correct times&hellip;I shall grant peace in your land&hellip;and turn towards you&hellip;&rdquo; This opening section, in which the rewards of observance are explained, ends with the following pledge: &ldquo;I shall ever walk in your midst (<em>vehithalakhti betokhekhem<\/em>)&rdquo;&mdash;that is, just as Jews are to walk in God&rsquo;s ways, God promises to walk among the Jewish people, both verbs being derived from the same root. The parashah now turns to <em>tokhehah<\/em>, warning Jews that should they fail in this mission, God will&mdash;for starters&mdash;&ldquo;bring&nbsp; upon you panic (<em>behalah<\/em>),&rdquo; swiftly followed by decimating disease. (There is one other such passage of <em>tokhehah<\/em> in the Torah, which occurs in Parashat Ki Tavo in Devarim and bears similar themes.) Strikingly, the consequences for failing to observe <em>chukkot<\/em> and <em>mitzvot<\/em> are not merely physical torments, though there is no shortage of exile, starvation, and war among them. Repeatedly, the <em>tokhehah<\/em> mentioned is <em>reik<\/em>&mdash;void, as in void of meaning. The wayward will find themselves sowing seeds to no end, their energy exerted for no purpose. It is emptiness with which failure is answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In adducing suffering to the path a person takes, Bechukkotai elicits one of the core questions with which humans struggle: why do bad things happen to good people, as they clearly do? And what could this mean? One response is to trust that there is reason, as suggested by the rabbinic summation of disbelief, &ldquo;There is no judgment and there is no Judge&rdquo; (<em>leit din veleit dayyan<\/em>), which first appears, interestingly, in a discussion in Vayikra Rabbah about the inclusion of Kohelet in the Tanakh, despite its potentially heretical ideas. The midrash singles out this notion&mdash;that God is indifferent&mdash;as problematic, implying that confidence in God&rsquo;s ability to discern and respond to righteousness and malfeasance is at the very heart of being Jewish. And yet, human capability to comprehend justice in God&rsquo;s creation is seemingly limited: we are unable to understand why we, or others, suffer, and thus to understand the meaning of our suffering. We are confronted by our limitations, wondering whether our suffering is illusory, to be comprehended or compensated for in some other lifetime; or whether, perhaps, we need to try harder to discern the reasons we suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Interestingly, Bechukkotai evinces both possibilities: that our suffering only appears to be pointless <em>and<\/em> that we are responsible to interpret it as meaningful. Its term for both the cause and the consequence of malfeasance is <em>keri<\/em>: &ldquo;If you do not listen to Me and you walk (<em>hithalakhtem<\/em>, the same verb again) with Me in <em>keri<\/em>, I will thus walk (<em>halakhti<\/em>) with you in <em>keri<\/em>.&rdquo; The meaning of <em>keri<\/em>, which is repeated an emphatic seven times in the <em>tokhehah<\/em> section of Behuokkotai and nowhere else in the Torah, is debated among the text&rsquo;s interpreters. <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a> suggests two possibilities: the first, drawn from Sifra, connects <em>keri <\/em>with the root <em>k-r-h, <\/em>&ldquo;to happen, occur by chance,&rdquo; while the second, drawn from grammarian Menahem ben Saruk, understands <em>keri <\/em>to mean restraint. Unexpectedly, <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=ibn-ezra-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Avraham Ibn Ezra | &#1512;' &#1488;&#1489;&#1512;&#1492;&#1501; &#1488;&#1489;&#1503; &#1506;&#1494;&#1512;&#1488; - &#1512;&#1488;&#1489;&quot;&#1506; was born in 1089 in Tudela, Spain and died 1164 in northern Europe, possibly England. He is best known for his commentary on Tanach, in which he brings into Hebrew the fruits of generations of Sefardi philological and contextual (peshat) Biblical exegesis. However, he was&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Ibn Ezra<\/a> concurs with <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a>: he, too, suggests that <em>keri<\/em> can mean either restraint or randomness, endorsing both without stating his preference. In both of these senses, <em>keri <\/em>denotes not a type of behavior, but a type of attitude. This is why Rambam, who did not write a line commentary on the Torah, brings up <em>keri <\/em>in the context of repentance. Rambam&rsquo;s interpretation of the term appears in <em>Mishneh Torah<\/em>, in the section about laws of fasting. There he cites Vayikra 26 and defines <em>keri<\/em> as meaning a chance occurrence, which obstructs repentance by absolving one of understanding their actions to require correction. In light of how Rambam, <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=ibn-ezra-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Avraham Ibn Ezra | &#1512;' &#1488;&#1489;&#1512;&#1492;&#1501; &#1488;&#1489;&#1503; &#1506;&#1494;&#1512;&#1488; - &#1512;&#1488;&#1489;&quot;&#1506; was born in 1089 in Tudela, Spain and died 1164 in northern Europe, possibly England. He is best known for his commentary on Tanach, in which he brings into Hebrew the fruits of generations of Sefardi philological and contextual (peshat) Biblical exegesis. However, he was&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Ibn Ezra<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a> understand <em>keri<\/em>, we can read Bechukkotai as entreating us to act faithfully as if we comprehend the judgment and the Judge&mdash;to borrow the language of literary critic George Steiner, who described this as-if process as a &ldquo;wager on the meaning of meaning&rdquo; that assumes the presence of the Transcendent, and appraised it essential to any creative act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, this leaves us with little comfort if the meaning of our suffering is elusive. One possible answer lies in this week&rsquo;s <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=haftarah-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Haftarah refers to an additional selection of text from the Neviim (Prophets), the second division of books of Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), read after the parashah (Torah portion of the week). The haftarah is thematically tied either to the parashah or events on the Jewish calendar. Seeking out the thematic connection is one of the&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">haftarah<\/a>, from Yirmiyahu, which reflects the existential themes elicited in the Torah portion. Yirmiyahu stresses the importance of focusing on the Transcendent, as opposed to attuning ourselves to worldly success. The imagery used in the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=haftarah-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Haftarah refers to an additional selection of text from the Neviim (Prophets), the second division of books of Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), read after the parashah (Torah portion of the week). The haftarah is thematically tied either to the parashah or events on the Jewish calendar. Seeking out the thematic connection is one of the&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">haftarah<\/a> to bring this idea to life is of plants growing in the desert. Two shrubs have managed to sprout in the wilderness; both thirst for sustenance. They cannot know when it will come, or if they will survive until it does. One tree&rsquo;s roots reach down to an underground wellspring, invisible at the surface, from which it draws nourishment, while the other wilts. Jeremiah&rsquo;s shrubs suggest that <em>keri<\/em> refers to inward attention: the distinction between the shrubs is internally borne. Avoiding <em>keri<\/em> does not necessarily give us answers about suffering, but it does save us from <em>reik<\/em>, meaninglessness, by providing us with a path to walk. A desert plant can no more anticipate the coming rains than a person can know how walking in God&rsquo;s ways will lead them, individually, to flourishing. It is our valuing of the path&mdash;sending down roots and being open to the finding meaning in our circumstances&mdash;that sustains us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This post is republished from a piece I wrote for a local newsletter, 5779.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Image:<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wikiart.org\/en\/forrest-bess\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Forrest Bess<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wikiart.org\/en\/forrest-bess\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Untitled (The Void No. II)<\/a><\/em>, 1952.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parashat Bechukkotai is known for its aspect of tokhechah, admonition. This parashah details the consequences of pursuing God\u2019s laws (chukkot) and commandments (mitzvot), including the positive but dwelling upon the negative, in terms of sheer number and detail. The parashah begins, \u201cIf you walk in my laws (im bechukkotai telekhu) and keep my commandments (et [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[38,112],"class_list":["post-843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tanach","tag-bechukotai--","tag-tanach-"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning - Tamar Marvin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning - Tamar Marvin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parashat Bechukkotai is known for its aspect of tokhechah, admonition. This parashah details the consequences of pursuing God\u2019s laws (chukkot) and commandments (mitzvot), including the positive but dwelling upon the negative, in terms of sheer number and detail. The parashah begins, \u201cIf you walk in my laws (im bechukkotai telekhu) and keep my commandments (et [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tamar Marvin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-02T18:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"446\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"trmarvin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"trmarvin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"trmarvin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/93d76039f9dac08c1677165d8d52b246\"},\"headline\":\"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-02T18:57:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843\"},\"wordCount\":990,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bechukotai | \u05e4\u05e8\u05e9\u05ea \u05d1\u05d7\u05d5\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea\u05d9\",\"Tanach | \u05ea\u05e0\\\"\u05da\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tanach\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843\",\"name\":\"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning - Tamar Marvin\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-02T18:57:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/93d76039f9dac08c1677165d8d52b246\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":446,\"caption\":\"Forrest Bess, Untitled (The Void No. II), 1952.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?p=843#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tamar Marvin\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/93d76039f9dac08c1677165d8d52b246\",\"name\":\"trmarvin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/591d170ca213e161eda55b47946dc50bab881abb2a410d691dd0c4becf116a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/591d170ca213e161eda55b47946dc50bab881abb2a410d691dd0c4becf116a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/591d170ca213e161eda55b47946dc50bab881abb2a410d691dd0c4becf116a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"trmarvin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\"],\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/trmarvin.org\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning - Tamar Marvin","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning - Tamar Marvin","og_description":"Parashat Bechukkotai is known for its aspect of tokhechah, admonition. This parashah details the consequences of pursuing God\u2019s laws (chukkot) and commandments (mitzvot), including the positive but dwelling upon the negative, in terms of sheer number and detail. The parashah begins, \u201cIf you walk in my laws (im bechukkotai telekhu) and keep my commandments (et [&hellip;]","og_url":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843","og_site_name":"Tamar Marvin","article_published_time":"2021-05-02T18:57:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":446,"url":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"trmarvin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"trmarvin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843"},"author":{"name":"trmarvin","@id":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/#\/schema\/person\/93d76039f9dac08c1677165d8d52b246"},"headline":"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning","datePublished":"2021-05-02T18:57:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843"},"wordCount":990,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg","keywords":["Bechukotai | \u05e4\u05e8\u05e9\u05ea \u05d1\u05d7\u05d5\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea\u05d9","Tanach | \u05ea\u05e0\"\u05da"],"articleSection":["Tanach"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843","url":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843","name":"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning - Tamar Marvin","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-02T18:57:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/#\/schema\/person\/93d76039f9dac08c1677165d8d52b246"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/untitled-the-void-no-ii-1952.jpgLarge.jpg","width":750,"height":446,"caption":"Forrest Bess, Untitled (The Void No. II), 1952."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=843#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/","name":"Tamar Marvin","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/#\/schema\/person\/93d76039f9dac08c1677165d8d52b246","name":"trmarvin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/591d170ca213e161eda55b47946dc50bab881abb2a410d691dd0c4becf116a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/591d170ca213e161eda55b47946dc50bab881abb2a410d691dd0c4becf116a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/591d170ca213e161eda55b47946dc50bab881abb2a410d691dd0c4becf116a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"trmarvin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/trmarvin.org"],"url":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}