Rabbi Ilana Krygier Lapides: Somewhere over the Rainbow – Hope is the Real Miracle of Chanukah

by Rabbi Ilana Krygier Lapides

(Calgary) – The recent release of Wicked: for Good, the second part of the film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical, has reverberated in the Jewish world in unexpected ways.

There are some folks who believe that Wicked, particularly when referencing the original book written by Gregory Maguire, is a parable of the Holocaust.  An anti-fascist novel of how antisemitism can arise from the wickedness of propaganda, particularly if good people stand by and let it happen.

In journalist Olivia Haynie’s article in the Dec. 2024 Forward, she states: “Wicked is a parable about how propaganda can be leveraged by authority figures, whether against Elphaba or the Jews, and the different forms it can take…In Wicked, Maguire wanted to examine how language is used to prompt violence against minorities and dissenting voices in a society.”

The argument is related to the plot of Wicked in which the Wizard of Oz has decided that the (talking and fully functional) animals that live among humanoid residents in the Land of Oz are the cause of all evil in their society. The Wizard, using relentless propaganda and manipulation, convinces everyone to turn against the animals: removing them from their jobs, taking away their voices, and shackling them away from society.  There is even a literal scape-goat, the main characters’ friend and mentor, who gets fired from his professorial job and taken away by the powers that be.

There is another perspective, however, that Wicked can be looked at as anti-Zionist because of how a character, like the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba in the movie) has her ‘wickedness’ excused and explained-away by her back-story.  Allison Josephs, creator of the popular Jew in the City blog, wrote an article titled: “Wicked Could Not Have Come at a Worse Time for America”.

She asserts that anyone who watched the original The Wizard of Oz film from 1939 can’t help but be traumatized by how scary and evil the Wicked Witch of the West is.  And no amount of back-story or explanation for how that character came to be could or should excuse the behaviour.

She writes: “When society has been primed to feel sympathy for villains with difficult pasts, young Americans will begin posting videos on TikTok expressing support for real-life monsters like Osama bin Laden, as many did this past November. Atrocities like the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel – a massacre beyond our worst nightmares – will be put into “context.” When I saw the Namor storyline in Wakanda Forever back in 2022, I immediately feared that this framing would further justify violence against Israel, “the colonizer.”

Now, you may be asking, what does this have to do with Chanukah? Where does hope fit in? Well, perhaps, like how Chanukah can be so misunderstood, we need to go back to the true source material to get the real story.

In the original and beloved The Wizard of Oz film, the song ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, is the central focus of the movie. It is the vehicle that drives the theme of hope throughout the story.  The song frames the movie and reflects the wistful longing and desire for a world that is peaceful and sweeter than the one in which Dorothy currently resides.

The curious thing about the song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, is that, like many Christmas songs, it was written by Jews.

In considering the connection between hope and this song, Matt Haig in his non-fiction work, The Comfort Book writes:  “I think that it’s no coincidence that ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, one of the most bittersweet yet hopeful songs in the world, a song that has topped polls as the greatest song of the twentieth century, was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for The Wizard of Oz in one of the bleakest years in human history: 1939.

“Harold wrote the music, while Yip penned the words. Harold and Yip themselves were no strangers to suffering. Yip had seen the horrors of the First World War and was left bankrupt following the crash of 1929. As for Harold, who would become known for his hopeful octave-leaping, he was born with a twin brother who sadly died in infancy. Aged sixteen, Harold fled his Jewish Orthodox parents and went to pursue a modern musical path. And let’s not forget these were two Jewish musicians writing arguably the most hopeful song ever written, all while Adolf Hitler was triggering war and antisemitism was on the rise.”

In the Chanukah story, there is a moment when the rag-tag army of Jews have finally beaten the Greco-Syrian war machine. It is then that the Jews participate in a particularly poignant hopeful act: They light the menorah.

They light the menorah knowing that there is not enough oil to keep burning, knowing that it will go out before kosher oil can be delivered, knowing that the practice is to not light unless you know it will burn eternally, they lit it anyway.  That small, sweet act of faith now brings light to the darkness for millions of their descendants thousands of years later.  That’s an amazing act of hope.

So, is the Wicked movie ‘’Good for the Jews’’, or no?  Maybe that’s the wrong question.  Maybe the question is, how can we keep the glow of those tiny candles in our hearts regardless of what the world around us thinks?  The answer is that we must continue in our traditions and continue to reflect the beauty and holiness of the world God has given us.  In our small way, every time we light a Chanukah candle, we are bringing light to the night; connecting our souls to Am Israel and honouring all those who came before us.  We may ask, how can we nurture and nourish our hope when things can seem so dark?  And the answer to that is: One candle at a time.

From my family to yours, wishing you a Lichtig and Freilech Chanukah.  Chag Chanukah Sameach!

Rabbi Ilana Krygier Lapides has an independent Rabbinic practice at RockyMountainRabbi.com and is the Assistant Rabbi at the Beth Tzedec Congregation.