HaRav Moshe Chaim Schneider, a close talmid of HaTzaddik HaRav Dov Kook, went to his home in Tiveria on Sunday and showed him a photocopy from the ancient sefer ‘Kli Paz’ written by the Mekubal HaRav Shmuel Shmuel Laniado, z’tl, who lived about 500 years ago and was known as ‘Baal HaKeilim’—after his seferim: ‘Kli Paz,’ ‘Kli Chemdah,’ ‘Kli Yakar,’ and others.

HaRav Shmuel Laniado, who lived in Aram Tzova—Aleppo, Syria, wrote a comprehensive commentary on Sefer Yeshayahu. The original manuscript was printed after his passing, about 400 years ago, and became known as ‘Kli Paz.’

The passage presented to HaRav Kook aroused tremendous excitement, as it remarkably predicts events currently splashed across international headlines. HaRav Laniado wrote in his commentary on the passuk ‘כִּי זֶבַח לַיהוָה בְּבָצְרָהְ -‘For Hashem has a sacrifice in Botzrah’ (Yeshayahu 34:6).

“There is a country far from Bavel whose name is Botzrah, and it is between the border of Assyria and Persia and between the border of the land of Edom—’Hormuz’—and it is today under the rule of the Yishamelim, and who knows the truth of these things—perhaps the war will be there at the end of days.”

These words are chilling in light of the current geopolitical situation, as Iran has threatened to retaliate against the US by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil passageway. About a third of the world’s seaborne oil traffic passes through the strait from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and Bahrain, as well as liquefied natural gas from Qatar.

The Strait of Hormuz is between Oman and Iran, which has a fleet of attack boats and thousands of missiles and naval mines, which it could use to threaten any ships that pass through. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz. “I can assure you, the administration is actively and closely monitoring the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Iranian regime would be foolish to make that decision,” she said.

HaRav Kook was very moved upon seeing the passage, and he said to his talmid, “Ashrecha that you were zocheh to such a revelation that may awaken thousands of Jews to teshuvah. It is a great zechus to publish it.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)