$ (1) $证明:∵四边形$ABCD$是矩形,
∴$AB=CD,$$∠ B=∠ C=90°.$
$ $在$△ ABE$和$△ DCF_{中},$
$ \begin {cases}∠ BAE=∠ CDF, \\AB=DC, \\∠ B=∠ C,\end {cases}$
∴$△ ABE ≌ △ DCF(\mathrm {ASA})$
$ (2) $解:∵$△ ABE ≌ △ DCF,$
∴$AE=DF=13.$
∵$AB=12,$
∴在$Rt△ ABE$中,
$BE=\sqrt {AE^2-AB^2}=\sqrt {13^2-12^2}=5$