Mirrors

By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER

It is customary during shivah to cover all mirrors in the house of mourning. 

Some trace this practice to a primitive superstition claiming a variety of malevolent spirits frequent one’s home in the aftermath of a death. Though otherwise undetectable to mere mortals (and consequently powerless), these dangerous spectral intruders might be glimpsed indirectly in a mirror.

Others more plausibly teach that bereavement is not a time to be preoccupied with personal vanity and superficial physical appearances.  One should be focused primarily on the life, loss, and legacy of the departed.

Still others point out that since religious services – shivah minyans – are held daily in the house of mourning, one covers mirrors to avoid worshipping while facing one’s own image – an egregious, nearly idolatrous act of narcissism.

Covering mirrors further cautions mourners not to retreat into themselves, wallowing in personal pain and dark ideation.  Rather, the bereaved are to seek comfort, connection, and perspective in the presence of family, in supportive friends, in faith, and in community.  As iconic guitarist Jimi Hendrix sang:

“I used to live in a room full of mirrors. All I could see was me. Then I take my spirit and I smash my mirrors. And now the whole world is here for me to see.”

Wisdom worthy of further reflection.

Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the former National Chaplain of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting.