JCF’s Special Grant to CUNY Hillel Hubs Hold Special Meaning for JCF’s Igor Musayev
On March 8, 2023, the Hillel at Baruch held a dedication thanking Jewish Communal Fund for its 50th anniversary special grant to support Hillel Hubs. Below is the heartfelt speech that Igor Musayev, JCF’s Director of Investment Services, shared at the program.
My name is Igor Musayev. I am the Director of Investment Services at the JCF and a Baruch College alumnus, where I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees – in other words, I spent a good part of my life in Baruch.
Especially during my Bachelor’s years, having a Hillel on campus, where I have many fond memories and where I felt I can be myself, really made the transition from high school to college so much smoother.
My family and I immigrated to the U.S. in 1996 – I was 11 at the time. After a few months, my parents, with the help of a local Rabbi, sent me to a yeshiva which was set up to absorb a large number of Jewish children emigrating from the former Soviet Union – Be’er Hagolah. Today, Be’er Hagolah continues to provide a Jewish education to those that can’t afford it, and I’m proud to serve as a Co-Chairman of their Alumni Association.
In 2003, coming into Baruch after graduating from Be’er Hagolah was a little scary for me – coming from an environment where you wear a white shirt and black pants, starting the day with a prayer service and tefillin, wearing kippah all day and all these things were not typically found on a college campus and Jewish identify, in my mind, didn’t matter. So I decided to take my kippah off so I can – to use the term lightly – assimilate – at least in college.
It was an internal struggle for me until I was introduced to Baruch Hillel. In 2003 there was pretty much no social media, so I didn’t realize that there was a number of Jewish students at Baruch and some with a similar background and there was a Hillel where these students gathered and had programs. I had a cousin at Baruch who was already part of Hillel and she started bringing me to the programs and slowly I started feeling good about being Jewish in college so I put my kippah back on.
It took a few months but I became a regular in Baruch Hillel and eventually signed up to be treasurer of Hebrew Culture Club – I just wanted to be part of it.
To make a long story short, fast forward to today: I am here with my wonderful wife, Miriam, who also immigrated from the FSU and went to Be’er Hagolah and was actually part of Brooklyn Hillel in her college days, my baby Michal is here, and we have 5 more wonderful kids. Thank G-d, we are all living our lives as proud Jews.
I feel very fortunate to have been able to establish myself and my family with a strong Jewish identity, largely because of the generosity of the Jewish people. Back in FSU, I attended a Jewish school funded by international donors. I remember we used to receive Passover packages every year. HIAS funded our flight to U.S. Here, at Be’er Hagolah, which was funded by UJA for some time and JCF fundholders, since families that came from the FSU and wanted a Jewish education for their children were not able to afford it, and of course, keeping my Jewish identity in college through Baruch Hillel.
Today working for JCF, which granted out more than $600 million to charities last year, makes my job so much more fulfilling. So when Rachel Schnoll, our CEO, shared with me a few months ago some of the possible funding opportunities JCF had and I heard Hillel, I told her about my Hillel experience. It makes me feel fortunate to now be on the other side, facilitating charitable giving.
I think that Jewish funders coming together to fund Jewish causes is the formula for success for the Jewish nation. My success story would not be possible if it wasn’t for these funders and I believe we still have a way to go. That’s why JCF’s 50th anniversary grant to CUNY Hillel Hubs, with a purpose of enhancing Jewish life on campus, is so special to me.