Z

oom. The teleconferenc-
ing service has become a 
popular communication 
tool during the coronavirus 
pandemic. It easily connects 
isolated families and friends, 
employees and employers, and 
offers a way for people to still 
learn, work and pray together. 
Everyone benefits. 
Yet, like with most technol-
ogy, there are risks. Your pri-
vacy can be compromised, and 
you could become a target for 
pranksters or haters. 
Enter a new phrase — 
Zoom-bombing (similar to 
photo-bombing). This happens 
when uninvited participants or 
their messages enter a publicly 
announced Zoom session and 
make their presence known 
in ways that range from pure 
mischief to outright hate crimes 
punishable by law. 
“I kind of felt violated,” said 
Rabbi Mitch Parker of B’
nai 
Israel Congregation in West 
Bloomfield. He was starting 
a Talmud class April 1 when 
an individual described by a 

participant as wearing para-
military attire, including night 
goggles, appeared 
as a participant 
on screen. When 
the person began 
playing disrup-
tive loud music, 
Parker ended the 
session quickly. He 
restarted a little later and was 
wrapping up the hour when 
the person appeared again with 
several others and more loud 
music. Parker shut the session 
down. 
When Parker went offline, 
participant Ron Sigal of 
Farmington Hills stayed on. 
He says 
he saw a man holding 
a gun. When the man pointed 
the gun straight at the camera, 
Sigal signed out immediately. 
“When the guy pointed the 
gun at us, I was nervous, even 
though I knew he couldn’
t 
shoot me through the comput-
er,” he said. “I felt threatened 
and violated. I was literally 
shaking. I felt it was definite-
ly anti-Semitic. The music 

sounded like German or Nazi-
like music.”
Sigal said he didn’
t sleep that 
night because he was disturbed 
by the incident. 
“I have seen anti-Semitic stuff 
before, but it was never as up 
close and personal as this,
” he 
said. 
Sigal says he reported the 
incident to the ADL and law 
enforcement as well as online 
on an FBI page about internet 
crime. He also submitted pho-
tos he took of the Zoom screen, 
which showed some screen 
names but no faces, one of the 
Zoom-bombers and a por-
nographic image.
He agreed with Rabbi Parker 
that new measures were needed 
for future Zoom meetings. 
Since the stay-at-home coro-
navirus order, B’
nai Israel had 
been holding morning and 
afternoon minyans as well as 
classes on Zoom. All were open 
to anyone — until the Zoom-
bombing.
Now protective measures 
include passwords, limited 

access beyond members except 
with permission and more. 
“We learned our lesson,
” 
Parker said. “We can’
t be warm 
and welcoming any more. It’
s 
unfortunate.
”
 
On April 1, Zoom CEO Eric 
Yuan posted a message on the 
company’
s website pledging to 
deal with privacy and security 
issues and to regain public trust. 
Amid the pandemic, the com-
pany has seen extraordinary 
growth. 
The B’
nai Israel incident and 
another at a local synagogue 
that doesn’
t want to comment 
publicly were reported to the 
Anti-Defamation League, local 
law enforcement and the Jewish 
Federation’
s community-wide 
security team.
“We took a police report 
on April 1 and we are actively 
working on it,
” West Bloomfield 
Police Chief Michael Patton 
said, adding that a detective has 
been assigned and a WBPD 
liaison is working collaborative-
ly with a local FBI task force. 
“We are tracking these 
incidents very seriously,
” 
said Carolyn Normandin, 
ADL Michigan 
regional director. 
“Zoom-bombing 
is bringing hate 
right into people’
s 
homes when they 
are trying to be in 
touch and create 
community. We need to take a 
hardline approach on this. If it 
happens, report it.
”
She suggests recording 
sessions or taking photos of 
a Zoom-bomber because a 
captured image could lead to a 
computer URL and the perpe-
trator. 
The ADL website (adl.org) 
has a page dedicated to Zoom-
bombing. The page lists report-

18 | APRIL 16 • 2020 

Rabbi Mitch 
Parker

Jews in the D

KERI GUTEN COHEN STORY DEVELOPMENT EDITOR

Carolyn 
Normandin

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

Experts advise safety measures to keep online group sessions safe.
s advise safety measures to keep online group sessions safe.
Zoom-bombing

