Sect of Skhariya the Jew

The Thought of Skhariya the Jew, much more commonly known in the church terminology as the Heresy of the Judaizers or Zhidovstvuyushchiye, was a religious concept that existed in Novgorod the Great and Grand Duchy of Moscow in the second half of the 15th century and marked the beginning of a new era of schism in Russia. Some scholars consider it to have developed from the earlier Strigolniki religious concept that also had developed in Novgorod in the 14th century. Initially popular among high-ranking statesmen and even the royal court, the concept was persecuted by hegumen Joseph Volotsky and Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod.

The term Zhidovstvuyushchiye (Жидовствующие), as it is known in the sources, is derived from the Russian word жид (zhid, from Judea, an older Russian term for Jew which is now considered pejorative).Zhidovstvuyuschiye may be loosely translated as "those who follow Jewish traditions" or "those who think like Jews". Hegumen Joseph Volotsky, the main critic and persecutor of this thought, considered the founder of this religious movement to be a certain Skhariya (a.k.a. Zakhariya, Skara; Russian: Схария, Захария, Скара). This was Zacharia ben Aharon ha-Cohen, a scholar from Kiev brought to Novgorod by Mikhailo Olelkovich from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1470. Zacharia translated a number of Hebrew texts on astronomy, logic and philosophy.

Their nickname arbitrarily presupposed their adherence to "Judaism", even though most of Skhariya's followers had been ordinary Russians of Russian Orthodox faith and low-ranking Orthodox clergy and had never confessed Judaism. Almost all we know about their religious beliefs is found in accounts left by their accusers. This makes it rather difficult to determine the exact beliefs of the adherents, since the aim of the accusers was to blacken the name of the "sect" and crush it. According to most accounts though, the Belief of Skhariya renounced the Holy Trinity and the divine status of Jesus, monasticism, ecclesiastic hierarchy, ceremonies, and immortality of soul. Some adherents even professed iconoclasm. The adherents also promoted the idea of "self-authority", or the self-determination of each individual in matters of faith and salvation. Priests Denis and Aleksei were considered ideologists of this heretical movement.

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