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Under St. Joseph's leadership his monastery became the center of the lives of the common people of the surrounding area, providing the means for sustaining their existence when they came into extreme need.
In 1470, a preacher Skhariya (Zachariah), who came to [[Novgorod]] in the retinue of the Lithuanian prince Michael Olelkovich, played on the deficiencies of faith and learning of certain [[clergy]] with the idea of self-determination of ones faith and salvation. These ideas led to a disdain of basic elements of Orthodox popular morality: rejection of holy [[icon]]s and veneration of [[saint]]s and ultimately to the fundamental teachings of Orthodox Christianity. The proponents of these ideas became known a Judaizers. Their influence reached to the Grand Prince Ivan III who introduced them to Moscow. In Moscow, he placed two in positions as [[archpriest]]s at the [[Cathedrals of the [[Dormition Cathedral (Moscow Kremlin)|Dormition]] and Michael the Archangel in the Kremlin. Eventually, an [[heretic|heretical]] [[Metropolitan]] Zosimas was installed in the [[see]] of Moscow.
St. Joseph, with Gennadius of Novgorod, led the struggle against the spread of this [[heresy]]. Joseph first epistle, "Concerning the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity" attacking the heresy, was written in 1477 while he was a monk at the Paphnutiev Borov monastery. At the Dormition Volokolamsk monastery, he wrote his main works, including "The Enlightener" (Просветитель), as the monastery became the bulwark of Orthodoxy in the fight against the Judaizers. Through the works of St Joseph and Arch. Gannadius success was gained in defeating the heresy. In 1494, the heretic Zosimas was [[deposition|deposed]]. At local councils of 1501 to 1504, the heresy of the Judaizers was condemned.
