I

IBN ADRET, SOLOMON

(ca. 1233–ca. 1310)
Solomon ibn Adret was the most important rabbinical
authority in Spain in his period, and one of the most
important of all time. We possess from his pen several
volumes of commentaries on most of the tractates of
the Talmud and several more volumes of legal responsa
numbering in the thousands. All of these are a major
source of information on the history of the period, of
both Jews and non-Jews. He was the student of two great
masters, both of Barcelona—Rabbi Jonah Gerundi and
Moses ben Nah.man (Nah.manides; not a rabbi)—and
succeeded them as chief authority of the Aragón-Cata-
lonia Jewish community. He had many famous students,
almost all of whom became outstanding legal authorities
and rabbis of the next generation in Aragón-Catalonia,
Tudela, and Castile. Aside from Moses ben Maimon
(Maimonides), who left Muslim Spain in his youth, no
other Spanish Jewish scholar had as lasting an infl u-
ence as Ibn Adret. (Nevertheless, scholars have made
incredible errors in naming his students, and Scholem
attributed to him the founding of a “school” of qabbalah
based on his confusion of two sources with similar
names, one written by a student of Ibn Adret but hav-
ing nothing to do with qabbalah and the other written
centuries later.)
However, Ibn Adret was strongly infl uenced by qa-
bbalah in ways unknown to Scholem. He sometimes
borrowed whole sections verbatim from the qabbalist
‘Azriel of Girona in his commentaries on the aggadot
(homilies) of the Talmud; indeed, the order of the
commentaries is based on that of ‘Azriel. Additional
qabbalistic interpretations of Ibn Adret are cited in his
student Meir Ibn Sahulah’s (attributed) commentary on
Nah.manides on the Torah.
Ibn Adret joined in the controversy against the alle-
gorical interpretation of the Bible and commandments

fostered by those who misunderstood Maimonides,

and even signed his name to the ban against the study

of philosophy. Nevertheless, while he frequently wrote

harsh criticisms of philosophy, he was deeply indebted

to it, and matter-of-factly accepted certain of Mai-

monides’ most “extreme” interpretations. He was the

fi rst anywhere to cite Maimonides’ commentary on the

Mishnah, and in fact arranged for its translation from

Judeo-Arabic into Hebrew. He had, indeed, the greatest

respect for Maimonides, whom he frequently cited.

His importance as communal leader and representa-

tive of the Catalan Jews cannot be overemphasized. Ibn

Adret served as adviser to three rulers: Jaime I, Pedro

III, and Jaime II (the last addressed a letter to him as

“faithful” servant). He frequently was appointed by the

kings as executor of important estates, and also served

at various times as tax collector and secretary of the

Jewish community of Barcelona.

Late in his life Ibn Adret composed other legal works,

such as the Torat ha-bayit ha-arokh and a commentary

on his own earlier abridged version of that work, which

also serve as important source material for certain issues

of the time. He left two, or possibly three, sons who

were also scholars but never attained to their father’s

importance.

See also Jaime (Jaume) I of Aragón-Catalonia;

Maimonides; Moses ben Naham

Further Reading

Epstein, I. The “Responsa” of Rabbi Solomon Ben Adreth [sic]

of Barcelona as a Source of the History of Spain. New York,

1968. (First published 1925.) (Of limited value.)
      R. Salomo b. Abraham b. Adereth [sic]. Breslau, 1863. (In Ger-
      man; of limited value, but better than Epstein.)
      Scholem, G. Kabbalah. New York, 1974.
      Norman Roth