The Torah reading, Vayeishev, is wild. Jacob’s sons get into all sorts of trouble, but one son is highlighted in particular- Judah.

Here’s the story in a nutshell:

Judah had three sons, the eldest of whom, Er, was married to Tamar. Er was considered “evil in the eyes of the Lord” and was punished by death, leaving Tamar a young widow. As was customary for Jews of the time, Judah’s second son, Onan married her but he too died. The commentaries explain that both brothers feared Tamar’s beauty would diminish if she had a child. In order to prevent pregnancy, they “spilled seed” and the only thing they would go on to father is the pulling out method

With two sons dead, Judah was hesitant to give his youngest son as an option for Tamar as a husband, though he was obligated to. Tamar had yet to bear a child and seeing that Judah was withholding his son, she took matters into her own hands.

The Torah explains that Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute so that she could seduce her father-in-law, Judah and have a child with him, which she did- twins in fact. The story goes on, but for our purposes- here’s where it gets interesting.

Each of Jacob’s sons had virtue but Judah was chosen as royalty. It was Judah’s descendants who would go on to rule the Jewish people all the way until the Moshiach -Messiah, who will usher in the era of redemption where “the wolf shall lie with the lamb” and true Godliness is palpable here on earth.

But how can it be that one of the descendants, the result from a sexual relationship of a father and daughter-in-law who posed as a prostitute, will serve as the ultimate redeemer and teacher?

Now, of course a child cannot be held accountable for the sins of the father and it’s no surprise that in Judaism, the noblest people come from the humblest beginnings. But this is a trend. In fact, much of Moshiach’s lineage is troubling. The family line actually begins with Lot (the guy who fled Sodom and Gemorrah before its destruction) who copulated with his own daughters after they got him drunk, mistakenly believing that they were the last humans on earth and had to continue humanity. One of Lot’s sons/grandsons was named Moab- the namesake for the Moabite people whose princess Ruth, would later convert to Judaism and who’s direct descendant was none other than King David.

King David himself was told that he had sinned when he saw a woman, Batsheva, bathing on the roof and then slept with her, though she was married to another man. The child they conceived would die as an infant as punishment. They would later have another baby- King Solomon- the line continuing directly to Moshiach.

For all of these untraditional, scandalous unions there are pages of explanations, commentary and discussion. These unions were between righteous figures, albeit human and flawed.

So again, how is that Moshiach comes from relationships with such sexual impropriety?

Shouldn’t Moshiach, someone who brings consciousness of Godliness come from scandal-free, sterling ancestry? Not from incest, deceit and home-wrecking?

There’s a Chassidic idea that explains that the chaotic and dark parts of us come from a higher spiritual source, the realm of ‘tohu‘  or ‘disorder.’ But with its extraordinary spiritual potential, come extraordinary liabilities. For example, nuclear energy could be used to power a city but also to destroy one, like Chernobyl or Hiroshima.

Our animal soul, our more chaotic side, is the part of us that’s passionate and powerful –  it’s on us to manifest that power in the right way. To combine order (Tikun) with chaos (Tohu), and bring holiness and G-dliness into the lowest parts of the world. This is especially true of sex, which can be the most promising, fulfilling part of life or the most destructive.

This is evident with the lineage of Moshiach – the ultimate leader who will redeem the world by revealing G’d’s oneness. The holiest imaginable human. And yet, he comes forth from the dark.

He is the product of man’s struggle with nature –in order to elevate it. Then comes redemption.