FORTI, BARUCH UZZIEL BEN BARUCH

FORTI, BARUCH UZZIEL BEN BARUCH (d. 1571), also called Hazketto (a Hebraized form of his name: ḥazak (forte, פורטי, "strong") and -etto, a diminutive ending), Italian rabbi. Forti was ordained rabbi in 1564 in Mantua, and later served as head of a yeshivah in Ferrara. In 1554 he took part in the conference of Italian Jewish communities in Ferrara. He intervened in the affair of the Venturozzo-Tamari divorce (see Moses b. Abraham *Provencale), taking the side of Tamari. He edited Isaac *Abrabanel's Ma'yenei ha-Yeshu'ah (Ferrara, 1551), and included his biography of Abrabanel. In this he expresses his thanks to Joseph and Samuel, Abrabanel's sons, then resident in Ferrara, for providing him with the necessary information. He also edited Moses *Alashkar's Hassagot on Shem Tov b. Shem Tov's Sefer ha-Emunot (ibid., 1556) with an introduction. A responsum by Forti of 1565 is included in the responsa of Moses Isserles (Resp. Rema 36), while others are extant in the Mortara collection (at present in the Kaufmann Library of Budapest; M. Weisz, Katalog … D. Kaufmann (1906), nos. 152,157,160) and in a manuscript in the collection of Zadok Kahn (Paris). An alphabetical index of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah from a manuscript in Forti's possession was appended to the Venice 1574/76 edition.

bibliography:

Ghirondi-Neppi, 53, 63; Carmoly, in: Oẓar Neḥmad, 2 (1857), 62; A. Pesaro, Memorie Storiche sulla Comunitá Israelitica Ferrarese (1878), 22; Michael, Or, no. 634; Finkelstein, Middle Ages, 302f.; Bernstein, in: hhy, 14 (1930), 58–60; S. Simonsohn, Toledot ha-Yehudim be-Dukkasut Mantovah, 1 (1962), 303; 2 (1964), 365, 369, 425; idem, in: Tarbiz. 28 (1958/59), 378, 383–6; Kupfer, ibid., 38 (1968/69), 54–60.

[Umberto (Moses David) Cassuto]