My name is Eliya Liam Hajjaj, a sophomore from Beer Sheva, Israel and I am in Maccabi Tzair.

I want to tell you about a special program in Maccabi named the Ambassadors, the program that connected me to BBYO.

So what are ambassadors? Ambassador is a program in Maccabi for 10th and 11th graders in Maccabi that want to learn about the Jewish Diaspora, which is Jews that live outside of Israel. Once I passed the exams, I met Oren and Ofir. Oren is the one who in charge of the relationship between Maccabi and the foreign organizations and Ofir is the Israeli representative in BBYO.

During the year, we had meetings where we discussed the Jewish Diaspora, BBYO, Maccabi, and the world. We learn what it means to be a Jew and the connection between Israel, the people who live here, and the people who live in the Diaspora.

We got to experience BBYO when we visited Dallas, Texas at International Convention 2023. Here, we got to meet so many of you and let you show us what it means to be a Jew that lives outside of Israel.

During the year we went through a seminar all about Jerusalem, the holiest city in the world, and the center of the three largest religions in the world. In this seminar, we learn about the special things in Jerusalem like “Ezrat Israel," or in English "Israel help," which is a place where males and females can pray together on The Western Wall. This place combines tradition with the modern world.

We also walked in the ancient squares of Jerusalem and learned about how the people lived during the establishment of the State. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the holiest place for Christianity.

In conclusion, the "Ambassadors" program is a program designed to connect the Jewish youth living in Israel to the Jewish youth living around the world. This program teaches values such as acceptance of the others, respect, trust, and a different worldview. Without this program, I probably would hardly have heard of BBYO. This program is the thing that changed the way I see the world and look at things.

And that was what "Ambassadors" means.