Our Clergy
Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek
Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek has been recognized by the Jewish Forward as one of the most inspiring rabbis in America, Hudson Valley Magazine as a Person to Watch and by Newsweek as "a rabbi to watch." He is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and a Fellow of the Schusterman Foundation.
Before coming to Beacon Hebrew Alliance, he served as the Rabbi in Residence at American Jewish World Service and the Marshall T. Meyer Fellow at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York.
Rabbi Brent holds rabbinic ordination and a masters in philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was the first recipient of the Neubauer Fellowship. Prior to entering the rabbinate, he attended Wesleyan University and worked as a daily journalist in Durham, NC.
He lives in Beacon with his wife Alison, a professor of environmental chemistry at Vassar College and their two children.
Read Rabbi Brent's Blog
Our Executive Director
Jane Young
Jane has come to BHA as our 1st Executive Director after decades of Jewish professional and volunteer experience! She brings her love of “all things Jewish” and congregational life! Jane was on the staff of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) doing Outreach as Program Coordinator of Introduction to Judaism for the 55 congregations in the NJ/West Hudson Valley Council Region and she has experience as the Executive Director of both a Reform & a Conservative synagogue. As the lay leader for her region on the URJ Joint Clergy, Lay Leader Commission on Outreach and Synagogue Community, Jane was actively involved in creating leadership “toolkits” for use in Synagogues across the country. Jane served on the National Board of Women for Reform Judaism, serving as WRJ’s NGO Representative to the UN, attending weekly briefings as well as Vice-Chair of WRJ’s Critical Issues Committee. She has been an active member of a Reform congregation in NJ for 33 years, as a tenor in the Choir, a Board Member, Sisterhood President, (3 times!), and a founding member of a Multi-Faith Community Organizing group in Northern NJ – New Jersey Together, along with her, then, rabbi, Joel Mosbacher. Jane is delighted to have the opportunity to work for and with the wonderful BHA community and excited to discover with you what spiritual treasures the future holds!
Our Masa Hebrew School
Celia Baczkowski
Celia Baczkowski is our Education Director, and leads the Masa program. Celia has been a member of the BHA community for ten years, and has served on the Board since 2017. She received her BA in Jewish Studies from the University of Judaism in CA, and her MA in Camp Administration and Leadership from Touro University in NV. Celia spent over 20 years as a Jewish summer camp professional in a variety of roles, and has extensive experience in administration, program and event planning, staff training and supervision. Additionally, she works as a substitute teacher in Cold Spring, and has a NYS TA certification. Celia lives in Cold Spring with her partner, daughter, two dogs, one cat, one leopard gecko, and twelve chickens.
Our Music Director
Luke Wygodny
Luke i
s a multi instrumentalist singer-songwriter, professional actor & lifetime educator. Born and raised in Chicago, Luke grew up living & breathing music. At a very young age, Luke found peace through his cello where he trained in classical music through the Suzuki method. As he got older he found himself jamming on his dads beat up old Yamaha guitar and he’s been writing songs ever since. Luke has toured the country as both an actor in Broadway shows as well as with his folk band The Heartstrings Project. As a teacher, Luke was one of the founding members of the Musical Tots program at New York Kids Club. He has led songwriting workshops at multiple Montessori schools, Breathe Festival in Indiana, Kerrville Music Festival in Texas & an ongoing Heartstrings Kids Songwriting retreat in Costa Rica. As a spiritual leader Wygodny raised praise alongside Rabbi David Ingber at Romemu Manhattan and is now leading services at Beacon Hebrew Alliance in Beacon, NY. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Syracuse University. It’s Luke’s greatest responsibility to honor each individuals journey, and gift the next generation with the tools needed to be open enough to love themselves & find the confidence within. To truly be broken open.
Our Preschool Director
Ilana Friedman
Ilana Friedman is thrilled to be the director and lead teacher at BHA Preschool. She also runs Beacon Craft Workshop, teaching inquiry-based art and science workshops for children. Before moving to Beacon, Ilana received her BA with Honors and also received her Masters of Arts in Teaching at Brown University. She went on to teach third grade for many years at the Brooklyn New School, in Brooklyn, New York. Ilana also works as a potter and took classes at Haystack Mountain and Penland Schools of Craft. She knows first-hand the inspiration and fun that comes from exploring materials and creating alongside others, and this is what she aims to provide when teaching young children. She lives in Beacon with her husband Bryan, and their daughters Samara & Sage.
Assitant Teacher: Sophia Jackson
Sophia is one of our Preschool Assistant Teachers and has worked as a substitute teacher at BHA preschool for 5 years. This year she joined the regular teaching team, and she brings her expertise in Alexander Technique for children and passion for integrating sign language into all learning activities. She brings her background in the visual arts, her experience teaching at Compass Arts, as well as her commitment to play to BHA Preschool.
Assitant Teacher: Regina Williams
Before moving to Beacon Regina received her masters in education from Bank Street College of Education. She has taught in a number of local schools while raising three children of her own. Regina is excited to return to the BHA preschool community. When not playing in the sandbox,planting in the garden, and nurturing young minds Regina can be found sewing quilts and knitting sweaters.
Our Administrator
Faith Adams
Faith has been our skilled and supportive Administrator since 2017. She is also a licensed bookkeeper through the NACPB and a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Faith is a ceramics artist and potter, she has sold her work online for over 10 years, and has shown in local shops and galleries. She lives in Beacon with her partner and four (yes, four) cats.
