STaM

Avraham Borshevsky (b. 1970) is a noted Israeli master scribe (sofer-STaM) and calligraphy artist. A member of The Israeli Professional Visual Artists Association and IAA/AIAP. Holder of two Guinness World Records.

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Borshevsky lives and works in Jerusalem and creates unique and custom designed works of art, which are distinguished by the original design of ancient texts and the virtuosity of their execution. Complying with Halachic law, he creatively extends the Jewish ceremonial art tradition and has devoted himself to creating original parchment manuscripts based on sacred Hebrew Scriptures and Gematria. Artworks of Avraham Borshevsky are located in museums, synagogues and private collections of dozens of countries around the world.

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Avraham Borshevsky was born on Hanukkah 1970 in the small Ukrainian city of Korosten, USSR. Soon the family moved to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). He studied there an academic drawing and art history at the Faculty of Architecture of LISI. Borshevsky studied Hebrew on his own. He continued his Jewish education, which he began as a student, with the rabbis of the Shvut Ami Yeshiva in Jerusalem. ​Avraham studied the Talmud with Rabbi Shlomo haLevi Bamberger (1926, Hamburg - 2015, Jerusalem - a direct descendant of the author of the book “Melekhet Shamayim”). After professional training with Dr. Michael Khanin and passing exams with Rabbi Mordechai Friedlander of Mishmeret STaM, Borshevsky became a certified sofer, i.e., a master scribe of sacred Jewish scrolls (1996) and, since 2000, a certified expert of it (bodek).

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In 2004, Avraham Borshevsky scribed a unique kosher Mezuzah parchment recognized as a masterpiece of Hebrew sacred calligraphy. It has been documented by Guinness World Records™ as the world’s largest. Covered in major media, the sensational appearance of Borshevsky's mezuzah inspired and continues to inspire creative Jews from different countries to set new world records related to the biblical commandments and Jewish Tradition. Avraham’s mezuzah set another Guinness World Record, becoming the most expensive mezuzah in history. It became a highlight of the World Calligraphy Museum’s collection in Moscow.

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Borshevsky provides calligraphy services for official meetings at the Israeli President’s House in Jerusalem. This includes handwritten presidential Guest books for all official meetings with visiting heads of states, foreign ministers, and new ambassadors to Israel.​

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In the Certificates of Honour of the Israeli Memorial Institute Yad Vashem, Borshevsky writes in Hebrew, English, French, Polish and Russian the heroic names of the “Righteous Among the Nations” who selflessly resisted the Holocaust.

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Borshevsky designed and executed prestigious awards:

• 2004 the International Maimonides Award laureate's parchment Diploma

• 2010 The American Jewish Committee Prophet Isaiah Award

• The Prophet Isaiah Award by United Israeli Appeal - Keren Hayesod since 2013

• 2018 The Israel Hero Award by the Beverly Hills Synagogue

• 2021 The Genesis Prize - fully decorated kosher Song of Songs scroll

• 2023 The Max Freilich Award by United Israeli Appeal - Keren Hayesod

• 2024 The Janet Simons Award by United Israeli Appeal - Keren Hayesod

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Borshevsky's artworks are in demand as exclusive, personal, premium gifts. Among the owners of parchments with his signature are Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett, George W. Bush, David Cameron, Vladimir Putin, Nursultan Nazarbayev, diplomats, leading rabbis, Christian hierarchs, ambassadors, businessmen from the Forbes list, doctors, lawyers and world-famous public figures.

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Avraham Borshevsky shares his knowledge and skills not only in his art studio in Talbiya, Jerusalem. His fascinating lectures and workshops have been successfully held at the Bible Lands Museum, the Wolfson Museum of Jewish Art, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, the Slovak State Museum of Jewish Culture in Bratislava, the Jewish Community Center in Krakow, Poland, the Israeli Cultural Centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia.

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Collections

• The World Calligraphy Museum in Moscow, Russia

• The Slovak National Museum of Jewish Culture in Bratislava, Slovakia

• The "Ezras Israel" synagogue, Rockville USA 

• The Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

• DeWitt Wallace Library at Macalester College, USA

• Harwey Wolinets' Judaica collection, USA

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Personal exhibitions

2019  Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater, by Israeli Cultural Center of Kiev, Ukraine

2018  "Máme 25 ...". The Slovak National Museum of Jewish Culture, Bratislava

2018  Israeli Cultural Center of Odessa, Ukraine

2016  Israeli Cultural Center of Minsk, Belarus

2010  "Black Fire" photo exhibition in the Jewish Cultural Center of Moscow, Russia
2010  The Jewish Community Center of Volgograd, Russia
2010  "Sacred Hebrew Calligraphy of Avraham Borshevsky" The State Library for Foreign Literature, Moscow
2010  Taras Shevchenko Palace of Culture, by Israeli Cultural Center of Melitopol, Ukraine
2009  State University of Informatics and Artificial Intelligence, by Israeli Cultural Center of Donetzk, Ukraine
​2009  The Israeli Cultural Center of Moscow, Russia​
2003  "The Revival of the Jewish Calligraphy Art", The Jewish Cultural Center, Moscow​
2002  The Municipal Cultural Center, Jerusalem, Israel​

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Two-person exhibition

2010  "Posolstvo z Jeruzalema" with Avi Biran. The Slovak National Museum of Jewish Culture, Bratislava

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Group exhibitions

2021  "Visual Music: Calligraphy & Sacred Texts. Poetry of the Hebrew Bible", by Henry Luce III Center for the Arts & Religion, USA

2019  "Private Museums of Russia. Talents of Russia" (catalog), by the World Calligraphy Museum, Moscow

2017  The VI International Exhibition of Calligraphy in Moscow, Russia

2015  The ​V International Exhibition of Calligraphy in Moscow, Russia

​2015  "Eternal Values" Jewish & Chinese Calligraphy exhibition at Novosibirsk State Museum of Fine Arts, Russia

2012  ​​The ​IV International Exhibition of Calligraphy, (catalog) Moscow, Russia

2010  The III International Exhibition of Calligraphy, (catalog), Veliki Novgorod, Russia
2009  ​​The II International Exhibition of Calligraphy, (catalog) Moscow
2008  "Callifest'08", International Calligraphy Exhibition. Mumbai, India
2008  "In Four Languages". Kehillat Yedidya Synagogue in Jerusalem, Israel
2008  International Calligraphic Exhibition (catalog). St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia
2007  "Greetings from Israel II". The Slovak National Museum of Jewish Culture, Bratislava
2004  "The Art of the People of The Book. Judaism in Art" Russian State Art Library, Moscow
2003  "A Precious Legacy: The Ten Commandments in Ten Versions" Macalester College, St. Paul, Minn. USA

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Symposium

• 2013 The Second International Pergamon Symposium in Bergama, Turkey

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Bibliography

• "The Beauty of the Hebrew Letter: From Sacred Scrolls to Graffiti" by Izzy Pludwinski. Brandeis University Press, USA 2023. ISBN 9781684581467

• 羊皮紙の世界 "The World of Parchment" by Yagi Kenji, Japan, 2022. ISBN 9784000254755 

• 羊皮紙のすべて "All About Parchment" by Yagi Kenji, Japan, 2021. ISBN 9784791773503

• "Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts" by Marc Epstein. Princeton University Press, USA 2015. ISBN 9780691165240

• "Mastering Hebrew Calligraphy" by Izzy Pludwinski. The Toby Press, Israel, 2012. ISBN 9781592643417

• "Scrolls of Esther" by Avner Moria / Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem.  ISBN 965-7027-25x

• "The Book of Amazing Facts and Feats" by Felheim Publishers since 2012. ISBN 9781598268468 

• "Guinness World Records 2011", p.93. By GWR LTD, 2010. London. ISBN 9781904994589

• "Guinness World Records 2009", p.265. By GWR LTD, 2008. London. ISBN 9781904994367

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Achievements

2009  Most expensive Mezuzah by Guinness World Records™

2004  Largest Mezuzah by Guinness World Records™

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