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As El Rab de España [the Rabbi of Spain] Solomon ben Abraham Adret was an outstanding spiritual leader of Spanish Jewry and established a great yeshivah in Barcelona. In 1305, when part of the Beit Din (Rabbinical Court) in Barcelona, he was responsible for a controversial decree which threatened excommunication (ḥerem) to all Jews under the age of 25 (except medical students) who studied philosophy or science.

 

Solomon ben Abraham Adret was the chief rabbi of Barcelona for over forty years.

A student of the Ramban (Naḥmanides) and Rabbeinu Yona (Jonah of Gerona,) Solomon ben Abraham Adret became a leading Talmudist recognised throughout Europe. His students included Ritva (Yom Tov ben Avraham Asevilli); Rabbeinu Beḥaye (Baḥye ben Asher ibn Halawa) and the Ra'ah (Aharon ha-Levi of Barcelona.)

 

Solomon ben Abraham Adret defended Maimonides, whose works were the subject of contemporary debate, but did not agree with the philosophical-rationalist approach to Judaism associated with the Rambam. He authorized the translation of Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah from Arabic to Hebrew.

 

Solomon ben Abraham Adret wrote a refutation of the work of Raymund Martini (a Dominican monk) who collected passages from the Talmud and Midrash (in his work Pugio Fidei) and interpreted them in a manner hostile to Judaism. This later led to his writing a Commentary on the Haggadot. Adret was also opposed to the excesses of the kabalists represented by Nissim ben Abraham of Avila and Abraham Abulafia.