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==Conflict with Maimonides==
When [[Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon|Ibn Tibbon]]'s translation of the ''[[Moreh Nebukim]]'' became known in southern [[France]], it was freely accepted by the liberal Jews{{Citation needed|reason=no source, no liberal Jews at that time|date=29 june 2017}}; but the strictly orthodox{{dubious|date=March 2017}}, who adhered firmly to the [[Talmud]], regarded it askance and secretly condemned it. No one, however, dared to express open disapproval of the study of this book until Solomon threw down the gauntlet to the Maimonists. It would be natural to infer from this proceeding, which divided [[Judaism]] into two hostile camps, that Solomon had had a philosophical training which enabled him to recognize the import of Maimonides' ideas, and the contradictions existing between the latter's conception of Judaism and that of the Talmud.
[[Samuel David Luzzatto|Luzzatto]] argued that Solomon, while a prominent Talmudic authority and of pious, upright character, took up the quarrel with the best intentions but was unable to comprehend Maimonides' views correctly, and had no idea of a philosophical conception of Judaism. He attacked Maimonides on minor, incidental points, e.g., for his refusal to take the [[aggadah|aggadic]] opinions of the Talmud in their simple, often offensive, literal sense; for his explauation of many [[miracle]]s by means of natural processes; for his description of [[heaven|paradise]] and [[hell]] in other than aggadic colors; and for his conception of the [[Godhead (Judaism)|Godhead]] on other than [[anthropomorphic]] lines. As [[Heinrich Graetz|Graetz]] remarked, Solomon, with his "childish views and his clumsy ideas", regarded nearly every word of Maimonides as un-Jewish and [[heresy|heretical]]. Solomon knew enough, however, to understand that single-handed he would be powerless to make headway against Maimonides' great authority, which prevailed even after his death, and against his numerous adherents. He therefore sought allies; but his demands for the interdiction of scientific studies found little support among the scholars of southern France, only two of his pupils, [[Jonah ben Abraham Gerondi]] ([[Nahmanides]]' relative) and [[David ben Saul]], joining him. These three pronounced (in the beginning of the year 1232) a sentence of [[Herem (censure)|excommunication]] on Maimonides' works, on those who studied them, and on those who construed the [[Scripture]] otherwise than literally and interpreted the [[Aggadah]] at variance with [[Rashi]]. Several rabbis of northern France subsequently confirmed this sentence.
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