Bat Ayin

Bat Ayin ( _he. בַּת עַיִן) is an Israeli settlement and communal settlement in Gush Etzion, on the edge of the Judean hills and the Shephelah, inhabited primarily by baal teshuvah religious-zionist Jews who adhere to Chassidic philosophy that combines spiritual religious life with organic agriculture. Bat Ayin was established in 1989 and its population as of 2005 has topped 1000. Bat Ayin is home to the Bat Ayin Yeshiva, an institution of advanced Jewish learning for men, and Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin, a women's learning program. The two institutions are independent. The men's Yeshiva is associated with the modern-orthodox Religious Zionist movement as well as with the teachings of the Breslov and Chabad Hasidic dynasties. The women's Program is more traditional and not limited to one particular form of Hassidisim. Students are encouraged to develop their textual skills and express their creativity in biblio-drama, dance, creative writing, art and music. Picking wild herbs, working the land and preparing wholesome meals are integral to the learning process.

The particular brand of Bat Ayin Orthodoxy has been called Chavakuk (in Hebrew, חבקו"ק), an acronym that stands for Chabad, Breslov, Carlebach, and Kuk, the four main influences on the Neo-Chassidic culture of the village. Proscriptions on dress, hair covering, and lifestyle (according to Orthodox halakha) are conditions for joining and staying on the settlement (for example, married women must cover their hair). Although residents adhere to these communal dictates of religious piety, they are also known for their counter-cultural practices such as organic farming and holistic medicine.

Bat Ayin Cell

The community has drawn some critical media attention surrounding the publicity of the so-called "Bat Ayin Cell", [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=341410&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Ha'aretz] 18 September 2003 "3 settlers convicted for attempted bombing of Arab school" By Moshe Reinfeld,] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4075001.stm BBC] 7 December 2004 "Jewish 'extremist' settler jailed"] or underground - a small group of residents accused of planning and perpetrating attacks on Palestinian and Arab targets. In 2003, three members of the cell were convicted of plotting to detonate a bomb outside an Arab girls school in East Jerusalem in retaliation for Palestinian Arab attacks against Jewish people. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3151930.stm BBC] 13 September 2003 "Jewish school bomb plotters jailed"] Longtime Kahanist activist Noam Federman was charged with having supplied the explosives for the bomb. Federman was placed under administrative detention for seven and a half months and eventually acquitted in May 2004. [ [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=62240 Arutz Sheva] Dramatic Development In Federman Case] Two other men were also charged and acquitted of involvement. Though most of the men suspected of involvement with the cell were not actually from Bat Ayin, the name remained associated with the case throughout the trial. Itamar, a settler in Bat Ayin, believes that Arab people do not have the right to exist let alone live in the State of Israel. [Moises F. Salinas (2007) "Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain: The Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0275990052 and ISBN 9780275990053 An interview with Itamar p 43]

Murder of Bat Ayin Resident

On February 25, 2007, Erez Levanon, 42 a resident of Bat Ayin was found killed by multiple stab wounds. His body was found just down the hill from the settlement in a secluded location where he would frequently pray. Security officials arrested two Palestinian teenagers from Khirbet Safa who admitted guilt in connection with the brutal murder, in the close by village of Beit Ummar. [ [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3369657,00.html|Settler found stabbed to death north of Hebron] ] [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1171894524591 Shin Bet arrests Erez Levanon killers]

External links

* [http://batayin.org Yeshivat Bat Ayin]
* [http://www.berotbatayin.org Berot Bat Ayin]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/etc/setton.html Frontline: Israel's Next War?] (PBS documentary on the Israeli radical right, including interviews with members of the Bat Ayin cell)
* [http://www.bat-ayin.org Yishuv Bat Ayin Community Website]

References

Further reading

* [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/811606.html] Push to commute Jewish terror sentences