Can my lowest moment be the beginning of something great?

Rabbi Landau teaches that the light at the end of the tunnel “actually starts in the darkest point.” The darkest moment is often the birthplace of destiny.

He points to Yehuda, the future king and ancestor of Mashiach, of whom the Torah says the scepter shall not depart from Judah. That crown did not begin when Yehuda was strong or respected. “It began when he actually hit the lowest point in his life. Exposed, ashamed, broken.” The verse says וירד יהודה, Yehuda went down. He fell from greatness, “and that fall became the opening for light.”

“Your lowest moment isn’t a demolition site, it’s actually a construction site.” In every layer of creation, from atoms to stars to your own body, he says, nothing grows into the next stage until something old breaks down. The greatest breakthroughs come right after the deepest collapses.

“So when Yehuda said, I’m done, God said, no, actually now your kingship begins. So when you feel I’m done, God says, good, now I can begin.”

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

Rabbi Landau teaches that light begins at the darkest point, and the lowest moment is often the birthplace of destiny.

Fear, vulnerability, or tension

Yehuda hit the lowest point of his life: exposed, ashamed, broken. A person in that place feels it is the end.

What may be behind it

Why would a fall lead to growth?

Nothing grows into the next stage until something old breaks down. A low moment is a construction site, not a demolition site.

Deepest human truth

When you say “I’m done,” Hashem says, “Good, now I can begin.”

More questions from this teaching

• Why does real growth so often come only after something breaks?