The term Zhidovstvuyushchiye (Heresy of the Judaizers),…

The term Zhidovstvuyushchiye (Heresy of the Judaizers), as it is known in the sources, is derived from the Russian word 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, considers the founder of this religious movement to be a certain Skhariya (a.k.a. Zakhariya, Skara).

This is Zacharia ben Aharon ha-Cohen, a scholar from Kiev brought to Novgorod by Mikhailo Olelkovich from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1470.

Zacharia has translated a number of Hebrew texts on astronomy, logic and philosophy.

Their nickname arbitrarily presupposes 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 have never confessed Judaism.

Almost all we know about their religious beliefs 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 adherents, since the aim of the accusers was to blacken the name of the "sect" and crush it.

According to most accounts, the Sect 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 are considered ideologists of this heretical movement.