Why is it that when we face a windowpane we see through the glass to the other side yet when we face a mirror we see a reflection of ourselves?
The fundamental difference between a windowpane and a mirror is that the glass of a windowpane is clear while the glass of a mirror has been coated with silver aluminum or other metals. Very simplistically stated the reason we see a reflection of ourselves in a mirror is because while light can travel through the clear glass of the windowpane it cannot travel through the metal coating of the mirror nor can it be absorbed by the metal coating. Therefore light bounces off the surface of the metal and returns to our eye causing us to see ourselves instead.
As we know everything in the physical world has a parallel in the ruchniyus world.
The story is told of a rav who asked a wealthy individual for a contribution to benefit an impoverished family. The wealthy man refused. The rav led him to a window and asked him to describe what he saw. The man replied that he saw people walking in the street and children playing in a garden. The rav then led the man to a mirror and again asked him to describe what he saw. The man replied that he saw himself.
