The legacy is in good hands!
I remember my first days in New York, when I first met wonderful people.
It was a family of Mountain Jews, and I saw how they help, support, and with what love and respect they treat their elders, how carefully they preserve their culture. After some time, I was invited to Columbia University for a conference on the disappearing language of Mountain Jews, visited the My Way children's center, where children from different countries are taught to draw and dance.
Fate constantly brings me together with wonderful kind people from the Mountain Jewish community. These are Ilana Khaya Krasinskaya, Eva Rakhamimova, Marina Ashurova, Asher Danilov and others. And today I want to tell you about a real teacher - a Teacher with a capital letter. She proudly and with a wide smile on her face introduces herself as Dukhter Gubeye.
In the small Azerbaijani town of Guba, in the unique Jewish village of Krasnaya Sloboda, Olga Yusufova was born - a woman whose fate is connected with many years of work, love for her people and a continuous struggle to preserve their cultural heritage.
Olga has been imbued with respect for people and dedication to her work since childhood. Her father, the famous cardiologist Rafail Ilgu, and her mother, who was always ready to help those in need, became an example of true service to people for her. Their home was the center of advice and support for the entire neighborhood. Olga adopted honesty, modesty, sincerity and responsiveness from her parents, which later became an integral part of her teaching activities.
After graduating from the Akhunov Pedagogical Institute, Olga devoted more than 20 years to teaching Russian language and literature at school. During this time, she brought up a whole generation of students who remember with gratitude not only the Russian lessons, but also the life lessons that she generously gave with warmth. Her students, scattered all over the world, carry with them knowledge and love for the history of a small people - Mountain Jews, which, thanks to Olga Yusufova, remained with them forever.
Each lesson of Olga was more than a language lesson. She talked about the history and traditions of Mountain Jews, about the importance of respect for elders. By her example, she inspired students, teaching them not only literacy, but also love for their people, for their roots.
During our conversation, she spoke with admiration of her former students, whom she met in Azerbaijan, Moscow and Israel. They greeted their teacher and expressed words of gratitude.
But time is like a fast-flowing river that runs forward and cannot be stopped. Twenty-five years ago, fate brought her to New York, where Olga did not lose her desire to help and serve people. With great warmth she remembers the women's organization "Hatikva", Oseh Chesed Organization, where they extended a helping hand to her.
Of course, such an expert in the Russian language was invited to work for the newspaper of Mountain Jews in America, "Novy Rubezh", where she was a secretary and proofreader for many years. She worked for the magazine "Tovushi", which was also published by representatives of the Mountain Jewish community. The magazine published her articles "Two Radiant Holidays", "The Artist", "The Betrothal Rite of Mountain Jews", "Two Similar Fates" and others.
Olga studied, raised children and worked hard, arranging the life of the family in the new land, but over the years her life mission remained the same. Today Olga Yusufova is the president of Emily's Services NY, a company that cares for the elderly and infants.
The path to success was long. Working on the project took a lot of time and effort. Sleepless nights and incredible work yielded results. But Olga does not stop at the achieved goal.
She raised three wonderful daughters who graduated from prestigious American universities, and continues to popularize the culture and history of Mountain Jews by organizing events and supporting people from different parts of the former USSR. She recently visited Guba, Krasnaya Sloboda, and recalls with admiration the Museum of the History of Mountain Jews and the synagogue, which exist thanks to the help of her students, who live in different countries but remember where they were born.
These are respected patrons who help their people. Deep bow to them!
Dedicated to preserving the Mountain Jewish culture that became part of her life, she was able to pass on her memory to her children, grandchildren, and new generations of Juuro. The legacy of her people continues to live and flourish in the United States.
Marina Lagunova
