As we mark one year since the pandemic changed our lives, we asked you to introduce us to your COVID heroes

When we saw the page in Mishpacha asking people to write about their COVID heroes, my mother, Mrs. Michal Horowitz (who gives many shiurim to women) said to me, “Shmuel, you know what got me through COVID? Torah!”

Through Torah, my mother got through COVID. She was able to get through this past year, which was very difficult and challenging, through teaching Torah to others via her (mostly virtual) classes and shiurim.

As for my father, he attends the morning Gemara shiur (by Rabbi Akiva Willig, our shul rav) every single day. In the beginning of the pandemic when all the yeshivos, schools and shuls were closed, I would come downstairs in the morning and find my father sitting in front of Zoom with his Gemara, “attending” shiur.

I’m realizing something: To be in this environment, where my parents live with a love and cheshek for Torah, really got me through COVID. Looking back on this year, I wonder, How in a million years did I get through this mess? And I realize now it’s because of my parents, who make the main purpose of their lives Torah, mitzvos, tzedakah, and chesed — even in such challenging times.

—Shmuel Horowitz, Woodmere, NY

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 854)