Year: 2021

Who Are the Hilltop Youth & What Do They Want?

Third Temple Culture: The Ethos of The Hilltop Youth

A vigorous new worldview that moves beyond the State of Israel

Dean MaughvetFeb 15

“We are post-zionist, yes; but also adamantly halachic.”

The Hilltop Youth are not the same young fellows you read about in the mainstream media.

There, you’ll find endless stories about dropouts, vandals and ‘messianic zealots’.

And in the burgeoning academic literature, too, where every manner of anthropologist, sociologist and criminologist is tripping over himself to develop a convincing typology for the group, or to formulate some original model the better to render them, like Eliot’s butterfly, “sprawled and wriggling on a pin” – the target is missed altogether.

In the case of the journalists, it’s mostly laziness.

If you’re a secular reporter, what, after all, is your motivation to get ‘inside’ and really understand the heart of a movement that will eventually upend the course of modern Jewish history?

And besides, in contemporary journalism an agenda has to be pushed, so it’s easier to just stigmatize (or demonize) the group in order to advance your career, rather than run up against some woke editor who’ll consign you to proofreading the social page if you don’t conform.

As for the ‘academics’, it’s too often the case that papers are written in order to make policy proposals for politicians and law enforcement (alongside making a name for themselves as good students of these very bad Jews).

Ultimately, that means finding vulnerabilities in the group that can be exploited by well-meaning government types who just want to make the ‘problem’ go away.

In short, almost no one writing today about the Hilltop Youth is doing so in an honest, intelligent manner, or with a view toward knowing what truly animates them.

Very simply, the Hilltop Youth possess a single-minded yearning for the Third Temple – a desire so consuming and uncompromising that it has de facto created a separate and exclusive Hilltop culture – not only distinct from the shallow, mainstream zeitgeist of the Israeli sh’fela, but also from the spirit of those ‘settlers’ in whose midst they dwell.

Now, that’s a lot to parse, I know, so let’s try to unpack it.

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Hilltop Bullet Points

We’ll start with this: the Hilltop Youth is not ‘Israeli’, in the normative cultural sense of the term.  They possess Israeli citizenship, yes, but…

  • They care nothing for the politics that enlivens the average Israeli. 
  • They care less for TzaHaL, over which most of the country still fawns.
  • High tech is the least of their ambitions.
  • And as for a life of ease – in the most vulgar, western understanding of the phrase (gadgets and holidays) – it’s nothing they pine for.
  • All of which places them in an entirely different galaxy from the average citizen of the so-called Jewish State.

Rather, the weltanschauung of the Hilltop Youth group is one of pure spirit.

Know, too, that there’s no organization here.

This is an entirely generational mindset that was absorbed via a number of disparate historical processes and phenomena that began in 1967.

It includes, among others – Rabbi Kahane, Oslo, Gush Katif, the broader settlement enterprise (and especially its conflict with the Minhal Ezrachi), Israeli judicial overreach, increasing police malfeasance, and a wholesale rejection of the statist politics of their elders.

Throw in an overwhelming love of the Land and People of Israel and you come up with a product that the state and its institutions truly regard as a mortal threat to their existence.

And they’re right.

But for the wrong reasons.

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A New Vision

The dream of the Hilltop Youth is to lead a life of mesirut nefesh for the sake of the Land of Israel and the Jewish remnant that believes, as they do, that nothing short of the messianic vision of the prophets will suffice for them – or for G-d.

And so, in an unceasing effort to occupy the space that’s bound by their convictions, they have moved into that ‘place’ that is wholly Third Temple.

That is, they have dispensed with anything that does not comport with life as it is meant to be lived in Temple times, and have filled their days exclusively with the necessities of learning about and preparing for the temple sacrifice ritual as explained in the Mishna.

All else is superfluous.

Life is led as if the Temple might appear tomorrow, and the group will simply walk undisturbed into that new reality without so much as a blink.

What that means…

1.      It means that animals and crops are raised in a natural, organic manner for both sustenance and sacrifice.

2.      That the Israeli state as a political concept (and reality) is rejected in favor of a King and Sanhedrin that are now in their emergent stages.

3.      That the state, moreover, is considered to be the single biggest roadblock on the road to a Third Temple reality.

4.      That a complete repudiation of, and disengagement from the institutions and processes of the State of Israel — and all those who work for and support them — is therefore a categorical necessity.

5.      That economically, the abiding focus is on agriculture, artisanry and crafts that will eventually contribute to a full Third Temple existence – to the exclusion of all other occupations.

6.      Submission to an overall ‘primitivism’ (they’ve certainly been called worse), that considers trapping, gathering, preserving, spinning, dyeing, and excelling at all the fiber, metal- and wood-working arts as activities of the highest value — to be learned, taught and thoroughly promoted.

Third Temple Economy

The group is now engaged in developing a Third Temple economic infrastructure that is Torah and agriculture based.  The laws of shmittah and yovel are studied and implemented with great stricture.

The group sees guilds and apprentice-style learning groups emerging for crafts and tradesmen, along with

A barter system with designated weights and measures, and set locations for the effective commercial transfer of goods, based on the original Mishnaic Monday/Thursday market-day protocol.

A group of learned and trustworthy rabbis without any state affiliation – itinerant teachers of sorts – is now active across Yehuda and Shomron, visiting the various hilltops to teach the relevant laws of agriculture and trade and to ensure they’re adhered to.

Sympathetic legal experts have also been engaged to coach the group and instruct them in the methods of Erev Rav state trickery – and how to defend themselves against it.

Continue reading…

From Save the Hilltop Youth!, here.

re: On Wearing a Kippah or Yarmulke

A recent article wondered:

Since the point is to show observance, but each type of Kippah actually demonstrates the specific types of sins one terms holy, how does it even help to wear one?

One reader thought the point of the above piece is one need not cover one’s head. Another reader pointed out there are other, more straightforward, justifications for covering one’s head (Rambam, Gra), and that it is an act of piety, anyway.

Give me a little credit here! Yes, there is more to it than that, and no, I’m not writing against skullcaps.

Among observant Jews, it is common to hear this specific reason, so I latched on to it, to make two points.

  1. We all need to do Teshuvah, including for group-sins.
  2. “Those living in glass houses”, etc. So, don’t be so proud of your in-group dress style.

 

‘Food: A Halachic Analysis’ by Rabbi Yehuda Spitz, Review by Rabbi R. C. Klein

Food: A Halachic Analysis

Food: A Halachic Analysis by Rabbi Yehuda Spitz (Mosaica Press, 2021)

Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

A prominent Talmid Chacham recently said to me that one-third of all sources cited in contemporary seforim are either non-existent or misquoted. Many authors simply copy out lists of sources from other seforim, but don’t actually bother to look up the sources that they cite. But—Rabbi Yehuda Spitz is different. He is a meticulous scholar who always checks up his sources and goes well beyond that as well. After years of in-depth research and writing, Rabbi Spitz has finally presented us with his first English book. The bulk of this masterpiece of Torah scholarship comprises of updated versions of various essays that Rabbi Spitz published over the years in major Jewish publications all over the world, plus new never-before-published articles on additional topics.

The first few chapters of this 31-chapter book discuss the laws of Basar B’Chalav (“Meat & Milk”), focusing on various details like how long one ought to wait between eating food of one disposition and the other, plus additional safeguards put in place to distance a person from — God forbid! — violating the Torah’s prohibition of Basar B’Chalav. Rabbi Spitz devotes a chapter to the requirement of waiting six hours between eating hard cheese and meat, elaborating on what exactly constitutes “hard cheese” vis-à-vis this Halacha. In a later chapter, Rabbi Spitz clarifies the Halachic status of genetically-engineered meat, demonstrating a fairly impressive understanding of the scientific processes used in its production and offering the most comprehensive analysis of the issue to date.

Rabbi Spitz also offers expositions that cover various historic Halachic controversies over the Kashrus status of the Buffalo and Zebu (whether they should be classified as a chayah or behemah), the stincus Marinus (whether it serves as an exception to the Talmud’s assumption that every fish with scales also has fins), and gid hanashe (whether the sciatic nerve is only on male animals or even on female animals). Rabbi Spitz’s pop culture references, humorous subtitles, and particular predilection for alliteration make reading this book entertaining, and his historical tidbits and interesting side points make it all the more informative.

In one his most entertaining and informative essays, Rabbi Spitz also provides us with a history of the Kashrus supervision over Coca Cola, explaining all the possible concerns and how they were addressed, while also managing to make references to all of Coca Cola’s various slogans. He also devotes much attention to Barton’s Candy and Jello-O, teaching us about the various ways of producing gelatin and which ones are considered Halachically-acceptable. In these chapters, Rabbi Spitz not only wears the black hat of a Torah Scholar investigating Halachic conundrums, but also dons his biologist belt and chemist goggles.

For those who think about Pesach year-round, Rabbi Spitz offers much food for thought concerning the ban on kitniyos (“legumes”) and whether it applies to such relatively new products as potatoes, corn, cottonseed oil, and quinoa. Like all of his other essays, Rabbi Spitz quotes from the leading Halachic authorities of our generation and even corresponded with various Kashrus agencies around the globe.

Of course, no contemporary Halachic work on food would be complete without chapters on Chalav Yisrael, Pas Yisrael, and Chadash. Have no fear, Rabbi Spitz’s respective chapters on those topics do not disappoint! He does not shy away from controversy, but tackles these topics head on, offering an honest look at the relevant sources. Other chapters in this book discuss various intricacies of the rules of bittul (“nullification”), kashering, pasteurization, and even mayim acharonim.

Rabbi Spitz consistently presents multiple sides to every issue, yet one can often discern his own final opinion on the matter. He generally presents his own conclusions with a soft tone and does not typically discredit those with whom he ultimately disagrees—a rare sign of humility in our combative times. Rabbi Spitz further shows his humility and openness to learning from others by mentioning the random people who provided him with the various sources or pieces of information that he adduces. At the same time, when accepted works like the Badei HaShulchan or Chelkas Binyamin come to mistaken conclusions, Rabbi Spitz is not afraid to point out their mistakes.

If I had to criticize Rabbi Spitz’s work, I would make an issue of him using technical terms or quotes from Halachic works transliterated from Hebrew without always clearly defining them. He doesn’t do this too often, but in some ways, it still makes the book a bit too complicated for the novice reader who is not already familiar with the various Halachic principles in play. Additionally, Rabbi Spitz’s carefully-crafted footnotes sometimes contain long lists of sources and authorities that read like name-dropping and do not really offer anything extra. That said, most of the time, his lists of sources do add to the discussion at hand.

Rabbi Spitz was clearly influenced by his illustrious rebbeim. For instance, his use of humor in helping his readers and students digest the loads of information that he presents mirrors the inimitable teaching methods of his mentor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Lerner (author of Shemiras HaGuf VeHaNefesh). Rabbi Spitz’s inquisitive methodology follows that of his teacher Rabbi Yonason Wiener (posek for Yeshivas Ohr Somayach and member of Badatz She’aris Yisrael), who has scientific inquiry in his blood. And finally, Rabbi Spitz’s impatience for excessive stringencies and unjustified leniencies matches that of his rebbi, Rabbi Yaakov Blau (a prominent dayan on the Badatz Eidah Chareidis), who always provided a balanced voice on any subject he weighed in. Needless to say, Rabbi Yehuda Spitz is also influenced by his esteemed father, renowned Kashrus expert, Rabbi Manish Spitz, whose opinions and insights are quoted on a variety of topics.

As Rosh Chaburah of the Ohr LaGolah program at Yeshivas Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Spitz helped trained a generation of frontline professionals involved in kiruv, chinuch, rabbonus, and kashrus. He is often consulted as an expert in various Halachic topics, and has been interviewed as an authority on such radio shows as Kashrus on the Air with Rabbi Yosef Wikler and Halacha Headlines with Mr. Dovid Lichtenstein. This reviewer looks forward to seeing future books by Rabbi Spitz on the rest of Yoreh Deah, Orach Chaim, Even HaEzer, and other areas of Halacha.

From Rachak Review, here.