I still have two unopened boxes of disposable masks, a physical reminder of those scary COVID days. There are several COVID test packages sitting in my closet, along with a couple of boxes of Clorox wipes. (Remember when you couldn’t get any because the supply couldn’t keep up with the demand?)

Although there are still instances of people contracting the COVID virus (hopefully just a mild case if they have been vaccinated), the precautions we used to take and the changes we were forced to make in our lives seem like they happened a million years ago.

However, there is one COVID-era development that has remained in full force … at least for me.

I use Zoom more than ever.

And I love it!

Zoom was founded in 2011 by Eric Yuan, who had previously worked at Cisco WebEx. The platform was officially launched to the public in 2013. But it never really caught on. I remember back in 2018 when a vendor I was using suggested we hold a conference call on Zoom. I had no idea what he was talking about.

Its popularity surged significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as remote communication became essential. And since then, it has grown even more in popularity. Like Xerox, Google, Photoshop and other popular brands, Zoom has now become a verb in our vocabulary.

Why do I love Zoom? Let me count the ways.

First, I am now working remotely from my home. And Zoom gives me a lifeline to all my coworkers, suppliers and business partners. I am averaging three to four Zoom conferences a day, and that doesn’t include the times I use Zoom to simply ask a coworker a question.

I’ve fully mastered all the bells and whistles on Zoom now: posting comments in the chat room, sharing documents, muting attendees when I’m giving a large presentation. I’m not a tech-savvy person, but Zoom makes it all very easy. Occasionally, for less important meetings, I might even participate without the video camera, which allows me to multi-task while I’m on a Zoom call.

Believe it or not, there are several business partners I deal with every day whom I first met during COVID, and whom I have never even met in person! It’s true! While I don’t think Zoom can accomplish everything that a face-to-face meeting can, it has been a fantastic time-saving tool for me, allowing me to cut back significantly on travel time and become much more productive.

But Zoom is not only great for business. It has significantly changed large portions of my personal life as well.

Before Zoom, I would often attend shiurim in person, both local classes here in Stamford, and in New York City if there was a speaker who I was interested in hearing.

Today, it’s rare that I attend any shiurim in person, choosing instead to tune into Zoom classes from the comfort of my own home. While there is a certain element that is missing when you listen to a shiur on Zoom, I have found that many of the good teachers have successfully mastered the technology, effortlessly sharing their source sheets, presenting their talks, and handling questions using the Zoom platform.

I love the fact that I can often listen to shiurim in my pajamas (with the video turned off, of course, and the sound muted) – and not have to worry about traveling into Manhattan to participate in a class. Not only that, but I’ve attended Zoom classes that have been broadcast from Israel and all other parts of the globe, shiurim that I would otherwise not be able to hear were it not for Zoom. (Thank you, Torah-in-Motion and Yeshiva University.)

And then there are organizational meetings. Being an active volunteer in our Jewish community means attending various committee meetings. And after a full day’s work, and little time to unwind, I find that the last thing I want to do is head to shul or to a person’s home for a meeting. Fortunately, I have found that most of the organizational meetings I am required to attend are now held on Zoom. I’m especially grateful for Zoom on those cold winter nights when I would rather not have to go out.

Finally, I’ve participated in a couple of family reunions via Zoom in the past few years. Both Sharon and I have relatively large extended families who live in various parts of the country and we don’t often see many of our aunts, uncles and cousins, except on rare occasions. But recently we had a memorial lecture for my mother-in-law, of blessed memory, with dozens of family members tuning in through Zoom. The platform is also perfect for celebrations of all kinds with friends and family who might otherwise not be able to participate in family simchas.

There is little good that came out of the period when we were paralyzed by the coronavirus. But sometimes difficult times produce innovative and creative ideas that carry forward even after the crisis has ended. And the Zoom platform is certainly one of them.

Michael Feldstein, who lives in Stamford, is the author of “Meet Me in the Middle” (meet-me-in-the-middle-book.com), a collection of essays on contemporary Jewish life. He can be reached at [email protected].