BB Camp  parts ways with co-director, who had held a variety of positions at BB Camp for the past 15 years

By  BERNIE BELLAN (Posted April 17) In an email just issued by BB Camp, the camp’s Board of Directors has announced that “the Board of Directors and co-Executive Director Jacob Brodovsky have amicably agreed to part ways, having regard to the best interests of the Camp and the community at large.”

There is no mention in the announcement as to the status of Brodovsky’s co-director (also his wife), Lexi Yurman.

The decision announced today constitutes a complete reversal of the Board’s earlier decision to retain Brodovsky as co-director. The Board had issued a statement on April 9 in which it said that “After conducting painstaking due diligence, the BB Camp Board of Directors unanimously voted to retain Co-Executive Director, Jacob Brodovsky, following his full apology for his serious error in judgement on social media.”

The statement by the board issued today (April 17) goes on to say that “the Camp Board expressly and unequivocally rejects and denounces the nature and content of the social media posts that were ‘liked’ (by Brodovsky) and in no way does that personal activity reflect the views of BB Camp or its Board.”

That statement refers to several social media posts which were posted by someone (or perhaps a group) that goes by the name “Rusty Robot,” which were posted in the spring of 2024, and to which Jacob Brodovsky attached his name as “liking” them.

There had been a myriad of accusations levelled against Brodovsky on social media, and one website in particular had been leading the charge to have him dismissed. That website not only ran several articles demanding that Brodovsky be fired, it allowed a slew of comments to be posted – many of which contained highly incendiary accusations against Brodovsky. (There were also a great many comments coming to his defence.)

In its announcement of Brodovsky and the camp parting ways, the Board goes into great detail about where certain areas of the camp’s operation need to be strengthened. The announcement says “Through this period, we have undertaken a careful and thoughtful review of our Camp’s policies and have taken guidance from experts in the community.  While we believe strongly that the Camp has been, and will continue to be, a safe Jewish place for children, we have nonetheless identified areas where improvement is warranted, and the Board has agreed to pursue these steps to benefit the Camp.”

The announcement outlines the areas in which it is seeking to improve certain aspects of the camp experience:

• The Board has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and will incorporate it into our Code of Conduct.  We believe taking this step gives formality to the Camp’s existing and unbending commitment to Jewish safety and outright rejection of any form of antisemitism or anti-Zionism.  Our adoption of the IHRA definition will be posted to our website.
• We will review and update the Camp’s mission statement and core values statement to better reflect the Camp’s fundamental support of Israel.
• Employees and Board members will be required to sign the Code of Conduct, which will outline support of the IHRA definition and include confirmation that they will not publicly promote ideas that are contrary to the mission of the Camp or which are contrary to the IHRA definition.
• We will take steps to hire a Jewish Education Coordinator to develop and implement enhanced Jewish and Israeli programming at Camp. 
• We will strike a community outreach sub-committee of the Board to formally engage with Israeli and other community organizations in order to repair relationships and enhance opportunities for collaboration.
• We will take steps to ensure that all Camp staff have a formal ability to communicate directly with the Board.

Yet, nowhere does the Board describe in any way how Brodovsky failed to meet any of the areas which the Board says it will seek to strengthen. It does say though that “Our campers will continue to do what they have been doing for decades: proudly sing Hatikvah daily while the Israeli flag is lowered, participate in meaningful and inclusive daily prayer services, enjoy the “Shabbat Procession” and Friday challah, and feel a connection to Israel and Judaism through our programming.”

Further, the  announcement issued by the Board also says that the Board  “would like to highlight we were particularly proud of what our Executive Directors initiated last year to support Israelis in need.  They engaged with the community to raise funds which were used to bring young Israeli campers from destroyed communities in the Gaza envelope, along with a chaperone, to Camp for a session.  This provided an incredible relief to those kids and gave our community’s kids a chance to connect with Israelis who have suffered so greatly.”

It should also be noted that the Board of the Jewish Federation issued a statement on April 14 that gave a forewarning that the BB Camp Board was coming under great pressure to part ways with Brodovsky.

The Federation statement said: “We are aware of the concerning situation regarding BB Camp.

“While BB Camp is governed by its own board of directors and operates independently — as do all of the Federation’s beneficiary agencies — we have listened closely to the concerns of community members, whose trust in the camp has been shaken. The Federation takes these concerns with the utmost seriousness. “Our Executive has already held a number of emergency meetings, and our Board will be meeting on Tuesday night to further discuss the matter. A formal statement will be shared with the community this week.” If there is a statement issued by the Federation we will provide an update to what is clearly an ongoing story. How the camp will reorganize itself this close to the opening of camp season is not explained in the announcement issued by the BB Camp Board. What it does say is that “The Board is actively working on a transition plan that ensures that Camp operates as it always has – as a safe Jewish place for campers to spend their summers, build leadership skills and create memories in an incredible wilderness environment.  The Board has great confidence in our returning staff team, including our exceptionally talented Operations, Program and Wilderness Directors, each of whom held the same position last year.  Camp has a culture guided by the dozens of amazing staff who commit their time and energy for the benefit of our community’s children.  We are blessed to have a strong and capable staff team ready to welcome our campers this summer, and the Board will work hand in hand with them to ensure the Camp’s continued success.”

Hats off to that hateful website which played such an instrumental role in seeing the departure of someone whom the Camp Board thanks for his “tireless efforts for the Camp over the last four years as Co-Executive Director and his dedicated service in a variety of Camp positions over the last 15 years.” If there is anything more to report on this story, we will do our best to do that here, but in past instances of administrators of Jewish organizations in Winnipeg leaving suddenly, it has consistently been the practice of neither the board involved in that person’s departure nor the person – him or herself, to say anything for public consumption that might explain their sudden departure.