The God Squad: The mirrored washbasin
The mirrors were the refutation of slavery even for a moment. The mirrors were like the blues or like gospel music for American black slaves. They were the stubborn and hopeful assertion of hope in the face of despair.
Mirrors are a seduction and we live in a culture of seduction—a culture that cares more about how we look than what we do. Christopher Lash called it a culture of narcissism.
Our cultural obsession with physical beauty begins early in life. In a famous study, a group of nursery school children were first taught a lesson by a master teacher who was not beautiful and then they were taught by a supermodel who had no experience at all teaching children. The kids then were asked, “Who was the better teacher?” and most of them chose the supermodel. (The fathers of the kids also chose the supermodel.)
Even the sacred texts of Judaism have occasionally fallen prey to the mirror’s seductions. In Genesis, Rachel is praised for her physical beauty while her sister Leah is dismissed as having “weak eyes.” There is even a specific Hebrew blessing we are commanded to say after seeing a beautiful person, baruch ata Adonai eloheinu melech ha-olam she kacha lo b’olamo…v’Brad Pitt. “You are blessed, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who has created a world with such beauty in it.” However, I am proud to say that at its core Judaism remained wise about the ephemeral nature of physical beauty. For example, there is also a prayer for seeing a disabled or little person, baruch ata Adonai eloheinu melech ha-olam meshaneh ha’briot, “You are blessed, O Lord our God, who has made a world with so many different people.”
Mirrors must remind us that it is virtue not beauty that should make us gasp.
I am thinking at this moment about Michael Jackson’s song, “The Man in the Mirror.” It is about a man who needed to change his ways. I do not think he was able to change his ways, but perhaps at the end he was at least able to yearn for the change. All I know is that…
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself, and then make a change)
(Na na na, na na na, na na, na nah)
Play the full version of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and then say with me…
Amen.
(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman.)
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