Are Hippie Jumps Necessary?

I know everyone says to learn hippie jumps and it will help major in the long run, but I’m really struggling to get confidence to jump over obstacles. I can jump on my board pretty high and comfortably but jumping over something back onto the board has me quitting before I even begin + my board just slides out from me every time. Is this a nifty trick I can slowly work up to later on or is it an essential to learn for a beginner?