Sect of Skhariya The Jew - Terminology and Beliefs

Terminology and Beliefs

The term Zhidovstvuyushchiye (Жидовствующие), as it is known in the sources, is derived from the Russian word жид (zhid, 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 sect, considered the founder of this heretical movement to be a certain Skhariya (a.k.a. Zakhariya, Skara; Russian: Схария, Захария, Скара). This was Zacharia ben Ahron 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 the heresy is found in accounts left by their accusers (a not uncommon phenomenon in medieval heresies). This makes it difficult to determine the true beliefs of the sect, since the aim of the accusers was to blacken the name of the sect and crush it. According to most accounts though, the Sect of Skhariya renounced the Holy Trinity and the divine status of Jesus, monasticism, ecclesiastic hierarchy, ceremonies, and immortality of soul. Some sectarians even professed iconoclasm. The sect 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.