Jesus in the Talmud
In the first few centuries CE, there were many sects of Judaism (such as Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees) each claiming to be the correct faith. Some scholars treat Christianity, during that era, referred to as Early Christianity, as simply one of many sects of Judaism. Some sects wrote polemics advocating their position, and occasionally disparaging rival sects. Some scholars view the depictions of Jesus in the Talmud as a manifestation of those inter-sect rivalries – thus the depictions can be read as polemics by the rabbinic authors of the Talmud which indirectly criticized the rival sect (Christianity), which was growing and becoming more dominant.
Sect of Skhariya the Jew
In the early 19th century, a number of communities appeared in Tula, Voronezh and Tambov, which followed Jewish traditions and halacha. They were also called "zhidovstvuyuschiye" and were persecuted severely in the times of Nicolas I. Since the beginning of the 20th century, they have been also called "iudeystvuyuschie", from "iudeystvo", a neutral term for the Jewish religion. Now they are generally considered a part of Jewish people (although with no real Israelite descent) and some of them have immigrated to Israel. These groups, however, are not linked to the teaching of Skhariya.