Our Board And Teams
BHA BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2024-2025
President: Joan Pirie
Joan Pirie has been a proud member of BHA since 1985, along with her husband, Izak Breslauer, and two children. Joan has served in a number of Board roles in the past (Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, and President). She is a retired academic librarian, working first at the NYU School of Law (where she was involved with the Gruss Collection of Talmudic Civil Law), and then as a member of the management team at the Vassar College Library.
Vice-President: Ashley Reckess
Ashley Reckess has been an active and involved member of BHA since 2016. She served as the Academic Director and was instrumental in designing BHA’s revitalized Friday night program which includes a mini minyan for our youngest community members, MASA Hebrew School programming for our older children, and a weekly community potluck followed by Shabbat services for all. Ashley is a regular volunteer for community efforts from kitchen clean-ups to interviewing potential new personnel. Ashley is deeply invested in building vibrancy and sustainability in our community through deepening our relationships with Judaism and one another.
Treasurer: Jamie Adams
Jamie Adams grew up in Chappaqua, NY. Received BA in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton and MBA in Marketing/Marketing Research from Wharton. Recently retired from a career of management and executive jobs in media, advertising, and health care. Responsibilities were always focused on quantitative analysis, forecasting and strategic planning. Most recently he was Chief Strategy Officer at Laser Spine Institute. Jamie and his wife, Linda Tafapolsky, have been members of BHA since 1996, where their two sons became bar mitzvah.
Secretary: Steven Jacobs
Steve grew up in a reform congregation in New Jersey. When he moved up to Beacon with his wife Yali, he was immediately struck by the warmth and creativity of the BHA community and clergy and he became a member right away. After volunteering in various capacities for several years, and after his daughter started attending the BHA preschool, he joined the board in 2023.
Professionally, Steve specializes in digital marketing and communications for political campaigns and non-profit organizations.
Ex-Officio: Jesse Lunin Pack
Jesse and his family moved to the Hudson Valley in 2018 and are excited to find a spiritual home at BHA. He lives with his wife, Liz, and two sons in Putnam Valley. They celebrated the first BHA virtual bar mitzvah ceremony of their eldest son in a very memorable event in March of 2020, and their younger son followed a year later with a hybrid ceremony in June 2021.
Jesse studied History and Judaic Studies as an undergraduate at Tufts University and has an MBA in Finance and Management from the NYU Stern School of Business. He has served in both professional and lay-leadership roles for a variety of Jewish communal organizations, serves as a community member of the Audit Committee of the Garrison Union Free School District, and has volunteered as an emergency medical technician for close to 30 years. Jesse is the Managing Partner of the Lunin-Pack Financial Group.
Trustee at Large: Micah Brown
Micah grew up in the Borscht Belt, working in many different jobs including at The Fallsview Hotel to pay her way through Cornell and Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a retired school psychologist and educator, who appreciates BHA for its richness of Jewish life, people, volunteer opportunities, and programs. She and her husband, Steve, have been members of BHA since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
Trustee at Large: Alyia Cutler
Trustee at Large: Ben Nathan
Ben Nathan and his wife Mariel have called the Hudson Valley home for the past decade, and have been involved with BHA for most of that time - including the wonderful experience of their son attending the BHA Preschool. Originally from Manhattan, Ben is a film director/producer and is the founder of the global social impact production company ALL OF US FILMS. Ben has been deeply involved in Jewish life since his childhood at Temple Emanu-El in NYC, and later as a founding member and leader of the first modern orthodox student group at University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he earned his BA. While the form of Ben's Jewish observance continues to evolve, his commitment to being a leader and innovator in the Jewish community has remained steadfast. Ben is passionate about community, inclusion, education, and deep connection, and is grateful to be able to serve BHA as a board member.
Trustee at Large: Andy Romanoff
Andy and his wife Janis moved to the Hudson Valley in May of 2022. They were immediately taken with the warmth and inclusiveness of the BHA community and began attending Friday night services and Torah study on a regular basis. Andy is an avid musician and has played mandolin with the BHA Band since its formation. He and Janis have co-led musical Friday night Shabbat services a number of times. Andy holds a B.S. degree from SUNY Stony Brook and an Ed.D. in Special Education and Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University. He worked as a Special Education Teacher in New York City then as Director of Special Education in a north shore school district on Long Island for a total of thirty two years. Andy was also an Adjunct Professor at Adelphi University and Long Island University for more than twenty years. Andy and Janis have four children and nine grandchildren whom they love to spend time with.
Trustee at Large: Ben Sherman
Ben looks forward to the BHA Friday night potluck dinners and singing during the shabbat service. He grew up in NYC, taught in China and Japan for 12 years, and then founded a high school in NYC and currently works in school improvement. He was president of an orthodox shul in Queens and helped merge it with another shul. He was on the Boards of the Tokyo JCC, and the Astoria Center of Israel, where he raised his family. He was on the budget and house committees. He believes that through vision, leadership, creative thinking and perseverance, we can continue to maintain and grow our BHA community. When not working, he can be found in his kitchen or garden, or collecting vinyl records. He also enjoys spending time with his girlfriend and his two daughters.
Trustee at Large: Ilene Sommer
Ilene made her way north from Long Island in 2015 to be close to her family, immediately embracing all that life in the Hudson Valley has to offer including BHA and its warm and welcoming ways. She has enjoyed being part of its inclusive community. Professionally, Ilene has been the owner of Logos Unlimited since 2015, a family-owned promotional products company she has successfully helped nurture since 2006. As a Long Island-based businessperson, Ilene was engaged in her community via the Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce where she was quickly elected to the board. She served as the group’s Treasurer and Executive Vice President. Locally, she was also an active member of North Shore Synagogue’s Sisterhood where she participated on the programming committee. In her leisure time, Ilene enjoys spending time with her two grandsons, playing the piano, and cooking for her family and friends.
Committees and Chairpeople
- Education Committee: Ashley Reckess & Deborah Davidovits
- Membership Committee: Jenny Kaplan
- Governance Committee: Karen Mayer and Joan Pirie
- Finance Committee: Jamie Adams & Aaron Pincus
- Fundraising Committee: Celia Baczkowski
- Cemetery Committee: Jeff Gross
- Hospitality Committee: Joan Pirie
- Ritual Committee: Bill Smith
- Facilities Committee:
Other Teams
- Events:
Any statements or opinions expressed (either online or offline) by the people listed above when not acting in their official capacity for BHA, do not reflect the positions of BHA as a synagogue or a community.
