In the latest issue of the Rossmoor News, Barbara Herman Hoff, president of the Rossmoor Jewish Community, reflects on the proper thing to say when wishing non-Jewish people holiday happiness. She says that there are 22 different religious holidays celebrated in December. 22??? I'm lucky that I know of 3 or 4. For me personally, this has never been a problem because I am comfortable with any of the various greetings one can offer to a family member, friend, or acquaintance. I'll state in detail what I mean, but first I'd like to relate an incident that happened in 2009 when I was living in Oregon, a suburb of Toledo, Ohio.

It was a week or so before Christmas, and I was going shopping at Kroger, one of the more popular supermarkets in West Ohio. I noticed there was a group of people outside the store, demonstrating or protesting something. I approached one of the women in the group and asked what the issue was. She told me that the group was a chapter of the Salvation Army, and they were protesting against the War on Christmas. THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS? I was familiar with the inane and useless "War On Drugs" because I had spent many years working in the field of drug addiction. But the "War on Christmas" was a new one on me.

I asked the lady to tell me about the War on Christmas. She informed me that her group was unhappy with the fact that Kroger's management told their employees to wish customers Happy Holidays. So what's wrong with that? I asked her. Well, they don't want their employees to say Merry Christmas to anyone, she replied.

Oh! So that's what the War on Christmas was about? In retrospect, I remember that I had several Christian acquaintances who also expressed that Christianity is under attack by anti-religious elements in our society, and attacking Christmas was one of their main goals. Is Christianity under attack? America's major religion is under attack? By anti-religious elements? I have news. So is Judaism and Islam, if the truth be told. But like the so-called War on Drugs, the war on religion is going nowhere. In fact, under the Trump administration, the practice of religion is encouraged. In Oklahoma, the public schools have begun to implement prayer in class and the issuing of Bibles to students.

I pointed out to the Salvation Army lady that the reason Kroger wants the employees to say Happy Holidays is that there are multiple religious holidays in December, and maybe some non-Christians will get upset if they wish one of them Merry Christmas.

The lady assured me that if there are really other religious holidays in December, they must be pagan! How can Chanukkah be pagan?, I asked. I'm not sure what that is, she responded. Well, after all, it's Western Ohio.

What's Channukah?, I said. It's a holiday your Savior celebrated. The look on her face told me that what I had just said was incredible to her. I said to her, Don't believe me. Believe the gospel. I referred her to John 10:22-24: " Then came the Festival of Dedication (Chanukkah) at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon s Colonnade. Some Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, Tell us. Are you the Messiah? I don't remember what her response to that was, but I'm sure what I said to her didn't make much of a difference to her opinion regarding the War on Christmas.

Okay, the digression is over. Let me get back to what Barbara wrote in the Rossmoor News.

I have many Christian friends in various places across this country, and I am sensitive to their feelings about religion since many of them are seriously religious people. It's December, a month when every one of us wants to feel good. It's cold. It's dark. It's a time when lots of people feel isolated, especially those without family, romantic partners, or close friends. We want it to be a feel-good time. So we greet the people we care about and also strangers with a holiday greeting. If you say happy holiday to me, I will return that greeting most of the time. If I know you are a Christian, I'll say Merry Christmas to you. I'll do the same if you say Merry Christmas. If you say Happy Chanukkah to me, I'll say the same to you, but I will also add Merry Christmas.

Words are powerful. They allow us to influence people's feelings about us. They let people know who we are. The greatest and most powerful thing we can do is demonstrate goodwill to people. We can do this easily on their turf as well as on our own. Our country is divided as in no other time that I can remember in my life, and I've been around for 88 years. This month is a very good time to love our imperfect neighbors as we love our imperfect selves. Think about it.