Reflecting on diversity should not diminish the celebration of Christmas.

It’s the week before Christmas, and all through the land, most people are finishing their gift-buying, planning family dinners and trying to survive the annual onslaught of seasonal advertising.

And for a minority of Americans, the annual December Dilemma is upon us: how to feel at home in a nation that we share, but whose culture at this time of year we do not. For Jews, Muslims and other non-Christian Americans, feelings at this season can range from bemusement to resentment, that our place in the American mosaic seems to be completely ignored.

Oh, we Jews have Hanukkah around this time of year. And although it has its own importance in our yearly cycle of holidays, it is not the “Jewish Christmas.” It has its own meaning, unrelated to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jews know very well that we are a minority in America, and we do not expect our holiday to have the same cultural impact as the holiday celebrated by a vast majority of Americans.

But the letter to the editor Dec. 16, about the Lewiston High School Christmas concert got it wrong: as a parent of an LHS student and concert choir member, my wife and I attended that concert, and we were a little uncomfortable. Not uncomfortable enough to stand up during the concert and complain. Actually, we were less uncomfortable than we expected. But it was still a reminder that we are a minority.

Please understand, none of this is meant as a complaint. No one wants Christians to stop celebrating Christmas, although it would be a good thing for all Americans if the emphasis were less on gift-giving and Santa Claus, and more on the “true meaning” of the season: “peace on Earth, good will toward all” is a sentiment we can all agree on, regardless of our faith.

No, all we really want is for Christians to pause every once in a while during their holiday rounds and remember that other Americans are here, too. Although a majority of Americans are Christians, this is not a “Christian nation.” It is the most successful experiment ever in making a diverse culture work. There is, of course, plenty of room for improvement. But to paraphrase Winston Churchill’s description of democracy: It’s the worst ever – except for all the others.

Some people feel that religious and cultural diversity are a sources of conflict, and so it has been, in too many places in the world. In America, that diversity can and should be one of our great strengths.

People in the Lewiston-Auburn area had a reminder, almost a year ago, of both the ugliness and the beauty that religious and cultural diversity can bring. You can be justly proud of the more than 100-to-1 ratio of attendance last January at the simultaneous diversity and bigotry rallies. Even the people who couldn’t get into the diversity rally refused to leave, but insisted on staying and being counted, in sub-freezing weather.

If proof was needed that we can choose for diversity to bring us together rather than tear us apart, that local experience is it. It is up to all of us

In Hebrew, we greet each other with the word “shalom,” which is usually translated as “Peace.” It is that, but it goes far beyond a simple absence of conflict to include a sense of wholeness and well-being and a quest for perfection. I am certain that members of the Lewiston-Auburn Jewish community and other non-Christians wish our Christian friends and neighbors a true “Shalom” at this season that carries so much meaning for them.

May this season bring peace, wholeness and well-being, to each one of you, to your families and loved ones, and to this wonderfully diverse community and nation we all call home.

Hillel Katzir is the spiritual leader of Temple Shalom Synagogue Center in Auburn. He lives in Lewiston.

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