FOA, ELIEZER NAḤMAN:
Italian rabbi and author; died in Reggio after 1641. He was a pupil of R. Moses Isserles, and possessed an extensive knowledge in Talmud and Cabala. He founded at Reggio a society under the title "Ḥebrat ha-'Alubim." (Association of the Modest Ones). Foa wrote "Midrash Haggadah," a commentary on the Haggadah of Passover, to which were added a preface by the members of the above-mentioned society, and some verses by a certain R. Moses Shalit. The book was published by them during the lifetime of the author (Venice, 1641). A corrected edition, with the addition of many novellæ and a commentary on Hallel, appeared in Leghorn in 1809. Foa also left in manuscript a work named "Goren Arnon," containing five collections of sermons on the Pentateuch, which were seen by Azulai and are mentioned by him in his "Shem ha-Gedolim."
- Eisenstadt-Wiener, Da'at Ḳedoshim, s.v.;
- Mortara, Indice, p. 54.
