Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin is director of Chabad.org and a spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch, a branch of Hasidic Judaism that tries to reach out to American Jews who it believes have not been exposed to “authentic” Judaism.

Jeffrey K. Salkin is rabbi of The Temple in Atlanta. He is also co-chairman of the Commission on Reform Jewish Outreach. He wrote the book Being God’s Partner: How To Find the Hidden Link Between Spirituality and Your Work (Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997).

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson is vice president of American Jewish University. He studies environmental ethics, racial and economic justice, philosophy and the interplay between religion and science.

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is a writer, speaker and teacher at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. He is also a visiting professor of Jewish spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union. He wrote the book Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2001).

Luke A. Powery is assistant professor of homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary and the author of Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching (2009).

Juan M. Floyd-Thomas is associate professor of African-American religious history at Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School and a member of the cultural resources team for the African American Lectionary. He is also an expert on religion and protest music and black religious experience in America.

The African American Lectionary provides cultural and worship resources, as well as lectionary commentary, for use by congregations year-round, including on Watch Night.

The National Jewish Outreach Program was established by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald in 1987. It is now one of the largest and most successful Jewish outreach organizations in the world.

Read a description of Hanukkah at Judaism 101.