One of my favorite Broadway shows is Wicked. From the first time I saw it, I was captivated by the story, the songs, the music, the production, and the messages and lessons. The main, basic lesson is fairly simple – we only know the story we are told, not the truth. The Wizard of Oz told us a story about the land of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) and the Good Witch of the East (Glinda who we learn was really named Galinda).

History is told by those who are victorious, hence we got the Wizard of Oz. Wicked tells the story before the story of the Wizard of Oz and we learn so much that changes the story, our impression of the characters, and what we think.

This is just like real life. We are told by the media, by the United Nations, by the International Court of Justice, and by leaders around the world one truth about the middle east. With some digging and effort, we can learn the real truth. We can learn the real story. When we learn the real story and the truth, things are very different, just like The Wizard of Oz and Wicked.

One of my favorite things about being Jewish is how we take pop culture and make it not just our own but also how we ensure there is Jewish content to it. The most famous of these is when Adam Sandler created and sang the Hannukah Song on Saturday Night Live. It was incredible to see and listen. It became an instant classic that everybody would sing. We loved knowing that Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock were both Jewish. Paul Newman and Goldie Hawn were half Jewish, so “put them both together, what a fine looking Jew!” It made people famous for being Jewish. It gave us a song to sing we could be proud of, not just the dreidel song. It truly was a game changer.

Since then, there have been additional versions of the Hanukkah song, none as popular as the first (and many of you may not know that there are officially 4 versions of the Hannukah song. There are other songs that have been made by many artists, nowhere close to the quality or fun of Christmas songs, but they exist. It’s basically been the Hanukkah Song and that’s it.

Until now. I discovered this version of songs from Wicked made by Six13. I love the way they use the music from Wicked to tell the Hanukkah story. I love how they made the music that I love into something Jewish. I have watched it multiple times because it gives me joy. Try to watch and not smile. Try to watch and not have your heart warmed. Try to watch and not feel proud to be Jewish.

After watching Six13 do this for Hanukkah, I decided to play around a little bit with AI artwork. I’ve never done it before so I figured, why not? I used a few different programs (you will see the quality differences) to make some pictures of Elphaba and Glinda/Galinda if they were Jewish and celebrating Hanukkah. It’s fun to explore Judaism and Jewish holidays with pop culture, technology and creativity. I wish when I was in Hebrew school many years ago, we had the opportunity to do this type of Jewish exploration. It would have made learning about Judasim so much more fun.

Here is Elphaba and Glinda/Galinda if they were Jewish and celebrating Hanukkah. Imagine them at your Hanukkah party. Imagine them lighting the menorah with you. How much fun would that be? Imagine a Hillel or Chabad Hanukkah with the Wicked theme. Making Judaism fun and cool isn’t that difficult as we saw with Adam Sandler and we see with Six13 and a little bit of AI graphic work.

I had the AI art generator put Elphaba and Glinda/Galinda fighting along with Judah Macabee against the Hasmonians. Imagine this in a comic book weaving Wicked into Hanukkah. How many of our Jewish children would fall in love with Judaism and Hanukkah without the presents? How many Purim costumes would this generate? How much better would Hebrew school be with this type of creativity?

I asked a different AI art program to create an image of Elphaba and Glinda/Galinda celebrating Hanukkah. It came out like Disney Princesses. How many little girls would fall in love with being jewish because they had Jewish Princesses celebrating Hanukkah? Lighting the menorah together? Sufganyot in front of them.

Imagine an entire kids movie with Elphaba and Glinda/Galinda being Jewish and celebrating Jewish holidays. Imagine a cartoon with them also being Jewish and including that in with what they are doing. Shabbat and Shabbat dinner. Inviting the Wizard to join them. Baking Challah (Elphaba’s could be a green Challah). How many children would fall in love with Judaism with this type of creativity?

Using a different AI image generator, I asked it to make Glinda/Galinda and Elphaba cook latkes. Unlike the Disney princess look above, it gave me an image that could belong with the Smurf cartoon. Look how much fun they are having. Imagine our children and grandchildren understanding how much fun being Jewish can be. I remember Hebrew school being boring and dry. My friends and I had fun with each other but the actual experience was not fun. Playing sports and doing theater at the JCC was fun. Bowling and swimming lessons and swim teams at the JCC was fun. Getting involved with BBYO was fun. We can change the narrative. We can make Judaism fun for our children and have it be desirable. Jewish smurfs and smurfettes!

Judaism is a religion based on food. Imagine, as I did with AI image generation, that Elphaba and Glinda/Galinda were eating sufganyot at Hanukkah. The hanukkiah is lit. The delicious fried jelly donuts, sufganyot, are in their hands and on their plates. How many children would want to hear the story of Hanukkah and the miracle of oil so they could eat their delicious sufganyot/jelly donuts? How much fun would they have making them with their parents?

It’s time for us to be creative in what we are using to inspire that love for Judaism in our children. It’s time to think like Adam Sandler or Six13. It’s time for us to be like Cantor Azi Schwartz of Park Avenue Synagogue, who used the tune of ‘You’ll be Back’ from Hamilton to create an unforgettable version of Adon Olam that many of you have seen and loved.

He didn’t stop there though. With the popularity of Wicked, he took advantage of the opportunity to create yet another memorable version of Adon Olam to the tune of “You’ll be popular” from Wicked. I can only imagine how excited people are to hear him sing this, to join along with him, and to fully engage Jewishly. His creativity works. We all can be that creative in what we do to make Judaism fun and inspiring.

At a time when being Jewish is a challenge. When Jew hatred and antisemitism is incredibly prevalent. When the question of why be Jewish is a real one for many people, let’s remember how Adam Sandler, Six13, and Cantor Azi Schwartz used their creativity to show us why to be Jewish. Let’s all take a step back and think what we can do to highlight not just the beauty of Judaism but also the fun and joy.

It’s almost Hanukkah, one of the most fun holidays (along with Purim) in Judaism. I have my Hanukkah PJs from last year and my new Hanukkah shirt, sweatpants, and sweater should arrive this week. I’m committed to bringing the joy to Judaism. How about you?