Aderet's teachers were
Nahmanides and
Yonah Gerondi. He was a master in the study of the Talmud and was not opposed to the Kabbala. Aderet was very active as a rabbi and as an author. Under his auspices and recommendation, part of Maimonides's commentary on the Mishnah was translated from
Judeo-Arabic into
Mishnaic Hebrew. Crowds of disciples attended his Talmudic lectures, many of whom came from distant places. Questions in significant numbers, dealing with ritual, the most varied topics of the Halakah, and religious philosophy, were addressed to him from Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Moravia and even from Asia Minor. Aderet's responsum to the
Margraviate of Moravia in the year 1255 represents the earliest ever recorded evidence of a permanent Jewish presence in
Austerlitz and in
Třešť, as well as one of earliest recorded Jewish sources for that region. His responsa show evidence of wide reading, keen intelligence, and systematic thought. They also afford a clear insight into the communal life of the time, portraying Aderet's contemporaries, and are of value for the study of rabbinical procedure and the intellectual development of the age in which he lived. Only half of these responsa have been published, and they total three thousand. Among his numerous students were
Yom Tov of Seville and
Bahya ben Asher. A manuscript purporting to be a certificate of indebtedness, dated 1262, in favour of "Solomon Adret of Barcelona" and a passport for the same Adret, dated 1269, are still extant.
Defense of Judaism Aderet had to contend with the external enemies of Judaism and religious disputes and excesses within its ranks. He wrote a refutation of the charges of
Raymond Martini, a
Dominican friar of Barcelona, who, in his work,
Pugio Fidei, had collected passages from the Talmud and the Midrash and interpreted them
in a manner hostile to Judaism. These charges also induced Aderet to write a commentary on the
haggadot, of which only a fragment is now extant. He also refuted the attacks of a
Muslim who asserted that
Christian priests had falsified the Bible. M. Schreiner has shown that this Muslim was
ibn Hazm, and the book referred to was
Al-Milal wal-Niḥal "Religions and Sects". Aderet also opposed the increasing extravagances of the
Kabbalists, who made significant headway in the
Iberian Peninsula and were represented by Nissim ben Abraham of Avila, a pretended worker of miracles, and by
Abraham Abulafia, the kabbalistic visionary. He combated these with vigour, but displayed no less animosity toward the philosophic-rationalistic conception of Judaism then prevailing, particularly in France, which was represented by
Levi ben Abraham ben Hayyim, who treated most important religious questions with the utmost freedom and was joined by
Isaac Albalag and others.
Aderet and Abba Mari Opposed to these was another tendency, the chief object of which was the preservation of the pure faith of Judaism. At the head of this movement stood
Abba Mari ben Moses ha-Yarḥi. He appealed to Aderet for assistance. An extensive correspondence ensued between the
Hakhmei Provence (the sages of what is now southern France) and the northern Spanish authorities, Aderet taking an essential part. Afterward, this correspondence was collected and published by
Abba Mari in a separate work,
Minḥat Qenaot. Aderet, whose disposition was peaceable, endeavoured to conciliate the opposing spirits at first. Ultimately, he was called upon to decide on the affair. On July 26, 1305, together with his colleagues of the rabbinate of Barcelona, he pronounced the ban of excommunication (
ḥerem) over all who studied physics or metaphysics before the completion of their thirtieth year. A protest against this ban may be found in a poem in which Philosophy "calls out in a loud voice against . . . Solomon ben Adret and against all the rabbis of France . . . who have placed under the ban all people who approach her". Those who desired to study medicine as a profession were exempted from the ban. A particular ban was pronounced against the rationalistic Bible exegetes and the philosophic Haggadah commentators, their writings and their adherents. Enforcing these bans caused Aderet much trouble and embittered the closing years of his life. He left three sons, Isaac, Judah, and Astruc Solomon, all learned in the Talmud.
Maimonidean controversy Aderet defended Maimonides during the
contemporary debates over his works and authorized the translation of his commentary on the Mishnah from Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew. Nevertheless, Aderet opposed the
philosophic-rationalistic approach to Judaism often associated with Maimonides. He was part of the
beth din in Barcelona that forbade men younger than 25 from studying secular
philosophy or
natural science. However, an exception was made for those who studied
medicine. On July 26, 1305, the Rashba wrote: "In that city [Barcelona] are those who write iniquity about the Torah and if there would be a
heretic writing books, they should be burnt as if they were the book of sorcerers." ==Works==