Having just returned from Israel, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch shares his own feelings upon witnessing the first Israeli hostages being released and explains: “The entire country broke down in tears... secular TV anchors prayed ‘Shehecheyanu’... This sentiment of mutual responsibility, despite all our internal debates and disagreements, defines us. We are Beit Yaacov — the House of Jacob — the family of Israel. If you do not feel this, you have no idea what you are missing — and you will never fully understand what it means to be a Jew.”