Wicked, Esau and Us

Gregory Maguire reimagines the familiar story of The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch. Given that I never saw the Broadway show I was surprised last year when I saw the movie Wicked and then overwhelmed last week when the stirring conclusion of Wicked: For Good was revealed. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, is intent on doing good. The Wizard is a charlatan. Glinda is more interested in gaining popularity and the affections of the masses.

Elphaba’s good intentions become contorted by circumstances and the trickery of the Wizard and Madame Morrible. Until the story’s conclusion her good deeds are thwarted at every turn. She then says to Glinda, “I have to be wicked so you can be good.”

Maybe we have been reading Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz all wrong.

I wonder. Is Maguire correct? Is wickedness a fabrication and a matter of perspective?

Maybe we have been reading the Torah’s stories about Jacob and Esau all wrong. We are the descendants of Jacob who becomes Israel. We want to see him as good. We see him through the lenses of thousands of years of interpretation which viewed his brother Esau as wicked and Jacob as good. The rabbis imagine that even in their mother Rebekah’s womb Esau pined after houses of idolatry and Jacob clamored for houses of study. Their destiny was set before they were even born.

The rabbis imagined Jacob in their own image. They read Esau as the father of our enemies, in particular the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple. If we read the prequel to these rabbinic tales and pore over the Torah’s words, however, we discover that Esau is a man of great character and Jacob is, like Glinda, weak and insecure. He is driven by fear.

Jacob is terrified about meeting his brother Esau. Twenty years ago (and two weeks ago by our reading cycle) Jacob deceived their father and stole Esau’s birthright. Esau was distraught when he learned of Jacob’s trickery and cried out to their father Isaac. He then shouted, “I am going to kill you.” And so, Jacob ran away.

Now they are about to meet. The Torah states, “Jacob was greatly frightened; in his anxiety, he divided the people with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, ‘If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, the other camp may yet escape.’” (Genesis 32) When Esau sees his brother, he appears motivated by love for Jacob and not animus. The Torah reports, “Esau ran to greet Jacob. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.” (Genesis 33)

Although Jacob presents Esau with gifts, our hero never apologizes. Esau initially refuses these presents. He just wants to hug his brother. He is motivated by forgiveness. Even though Esau was wronged he does not hold a grudge. I find Esau’s example inspiring.

And yet we continue to manufacture wickedness so that Jacob can remain our hero. Esau becomes emblematic of our people’s enemies. His good intentions are manipulated. We, like Jacob, appear to see wickedness where it does not even exist. We are motivated by fear. I can almost hear Esau utter the words, “I have to be wicked so you can be good” as he parts from his brother and marches off to Seir.

Today, we label far too many people as wicked. Is this really about their characters or our own? Are immigrants and asylum seekers wicked? Are those dependent on SNAP benefits and the unemployed? Are Palestinians? Or is their wickedness more about our need to see ourselves as good? They have to be wicked so we can be good.

We are all brothers. Like Jacob and Esau, we are one family.

And Glinda’s magic bubble is a fake!

The only answer is to follow Esau’s example. Run to your brothers—and your sisters too!