FORTI (CHASCHETTO, 
), BARUCH UZZIEL BEN BARUCH:
Italian rabbi and editor; lived at Ferrara and Mantua in the sixteenth century. "Forti" is the Italian translation of "Ḥazaḳ", the name of a Hebrew family to which Baruch Uzziel belonged; the Italian diminutive "Chaschetto" was formed afterward. On May 22, 1564, Forti was named chief rabbi of Mantua. He is quoted as an authority by several prominent rabbis, as Moses Isserles (Responsa, No. 36) and Meïr of Padua (Responsa, No. 9). Forti edited Isaac Abravanel's "Ma'yene ha-Yeshu'ah," to which he added a preface consisting of Abravanel's biography (Ferrara, 1551) and Moses Alashkar's strictures on Shem-Ṭob's "Sefer ha-Emunot" (ib. 1556). He also supplied an alphabetical index to the Mishneh Torah (Venice, 1586).
Bibliography:
- Michael, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 634;
- Zunz, in Kerem Ḥemed, v. 155;
- Carmoly, in Oẓar Neḥmad, ii. 62;
- Mortara, Indice, p. 24.
