“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Charles Dickens - A Tale Of Two Cities
The gemara [Yevamos 17a] tells that there was a place called הרפניא where all those who couldn't get married because of their genealogical impurity. The Brasia says that anyone who didn't know his tribe would go there. Rava adds that is was worse than gehenom because even people in gehenom have a tikkun but these people, nebuch, don't [see the gemara inside, please:-)]
Rebbe Tzadok turns the gemara on its head and shows that this was really a good place!! There are 13 gates in heaven. 12 for the tribes to enter and the 13th for those who don't know their tribe. So this was a place though which they could get into heaven via the 13th gate.
And - here is the kicker. The same Rava who said that place was worse then gehenom also says in a different gemara [Eiruvin 19a] that this place was the opening of gan eden!! This shows that that the place of the worst evil, is also the opening to the greatest good!!
This obviously has ramifications for us - the worst places are openings for the BEST places.
Let us see his words:
