Barukh Uziel Hazaketto

Barukh Uziel Hazaketto (Forti) was an Italian rabbi and head of the yeshiva in Ferrara. Hazaketto edited an edition of Isaac Abravanel’s Ma‘ayane ha-yeshu‘a (Wellsprings of Salvation), to which he added an introduction with a biographical portrait of Abravanel (Abarbanel). It is considered one of the earliest examples of biography writing in postbiblical literature. In it, Hazaketto expresses his thanks to Abravanel’s sons for providing him with the information needed. He also edited Moses Alashkar’s Hasagot (Critical Notes). Some of Hazaketto’s responsa have been preserved in responsa collections and unpublished manuscripts. He intervened in the famous Venturozzo–Tamari divorce affair (1564), which divided Italian rabbis.