ל׳ תשרי ה׳תשפ״ו | October 21, 2025
After Feigning Death, Ukrainian Sofer is Back At It
After rumors circulated that the now-infamous “Ukrainian sofer” had not woken up one morning, it has been confirmed that the sofer is alive and well. The previous information appears to have been false, or even deliberately fabricated by the man himself to reduce attention.
After rumors circulated that the now-infamous “Ukrainian sofer” had not woken up one morning, it has been confirmed that the sofer is alive and well. The previous information appears to have been false, or even deliberately fabricated by the man himself to reduce attention.
Last year, as reported on Anash.org, rumors began to surface about a skilled sofer whose beautiful tefillin and mezuzos were being sold in the American market. The sofer, Yaakov Shlomo Itzkowitz, originally from Russia, became frum and trained as a sofer in Eretz Yisroel. He later settled in the remote Ukrainian village of Zinkov in the Poltava district, completely disconnected from any Jewish infrastructure.
Investigations revealed that Mr. Itzkowitz was living with a non-Jewish woman and was not Shomer Shabbos. As a result, all the tefillin and mezuzos he had written since leaving Yiddishkeit were declared pasul.
Given the seriousness and scope of the issue – his tefillin and mezuzos had been widely distributed over the past two decades in Eretz Yisroel and Crown Heights – Harav Avraham Osdoba and Harav Yosef Braun of the Crown Heights Beis Din issued a letter urging anyone who may have his items to return them to the place of purchase for replacement.
To assist the public in identifying whether their Sta”m was written by this individual, the Badatz arranged in recent months for a Sta”m expert to be available at the Beis Din office once a week to examine tefillin and mezuzos and determine if they were written by this sofer.
After the story became widely known, rumors began spreading a few months ago that the sofer had died. However, in recent days, multiple sources have confirmed that he is indeed alive and still attempting to place his items on the market.
“It appears that the man himself feigned his own death so that people would forget about him,” Rabbi Levi K., a Sta”m expert, noted
To help the public exercise caution, we bring you some pictures of the ksav of this “sofer” to identify tefillin and mezuzos that may have been written by him.
COMMENTS
Are there any simanim that a sofer can provide to indicate how one can determine if this individual wrote a particular mezuzah?
Wow, is that a death threat in the whatsapp message?
I think we need to wake up to the reality of what type of dark characters are walking amongst us. Can the Shin Bet get involved here? Does anyone have any connections in the government?
Terrible that wholesalers knowingly buy such items and distribute them through the supply chain, while retailers claim ignorance about the origin of their merchandise.
The soifer is not the problem. He is obviously using distributors.
The distributors can no longer feign ignorance.
Their names need to be publicized.