Other Works
These poetical productions of Bedersi's youth were followed by a number of works of a more serious character, among which were:
- A philosophical commentary on the Aggadah of diverse parts of the Midrashim, such as Midrash Rabbah, Midrash Tanḥuma, Sifre, Pirḳe de-Rabbi Eliezer, and Midrash Tehillim (copies of this commentary are still extant in manuscript in several European libraries).
- Iggeret Hitnaẓẓelut (Apologetical Letter), addressed to Solomon ben Adret, who, at the instigation of Abba Mari, had pronounced an anathema against the works and partisans of Maimonides and against science in general. Bedersi, after having expressed his respect for the upright and learned rabbi of Barcelona, remarked that he and his friends were not indignant about the ban, because science was invulnerable. Their grievance was that Ben Adret should have branded the Jewish congregations of southern France as heretics. From time immemorial, science had been fostered by Jewish scholars on account of its importance for religion. This was true in greatest measure of Maimonides, who studied philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine by the aid of the Greek writers; in theology, however, he was guided by tradition, submitting even in this to the investigations of philosophy. He, Bedersi, therefore, entreats Solomon ben Adret to withdraw the excommunication for the sake of Maimonides—whose works would be studied in spite of all excommunication—for his own (Ben Adret's) sake, and for the good name of Provençal Jewish learning. The Iggeret Hitnaẓẓelut has been incorporated with Solomon ben Adret's Responsa, § 443.
- A commentary on the Sayings of the Fathers (Pirḳe Abot) and on the Aggadah of the Talmudical section Neziḳin. This work, which is still extant in manuscript (Escurial MS. G. iv. 3), refers often to commentaries of Bedersi on treatises belonging to other sections. It is therefore probable that he wrote commentaries on all the Aggadot of the Talmud. The section on Abot was printed by M. Kasher and Y. Belchrovits (Jerusalem, 1974).
- Beḥinat ha-'Olam (The Examination of the World)
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