Beauty in Distinction
Parashat Shemini, Leviticus 9:1–11:47
Matthew Absolon, Beth Tfilah, Miramar, FL
This week’s portion, Shemini, presents us with a foundational charge at the heart of Torah life: “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses” (Leviticus 10:10–11).
This imperative is not confined to the ritual sphere alone; rather, it reflects a broader theological and moral discipline. The life shaped by Torah is at its core a life cultivated in distinction.
Indeed, the very fabric of creation is woven through acts of distinction. “God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:4). The word “separated” shares the root of the word translated as distinction (בדל). It’s from this same root that we get the word “Havdalah,” meaning “to make distinct/ separate.”
Through the creation story we see that prior to comprehension, there is order; prior to beauty, there is separation. Distinction, therefore, ought not to be misconstrued as division, but rightly understood as the necessary condition for harmony. Distinctions, properly held, do not diminish creation—they allow it to flourish, each part bearing its own dignity and purpose.
This insight finds an unexpected parallel in the contemporary field of artificial intelligence. Despite considerable advancement, AI continues to struggle with even the most basic acts of perception; failing to distinguish reliably between a hand and its fingers, or between sky and cloud. Without careful instruction, the world appears to AI as without form and void of meaning.
And if we are honest, we may recognize something of ourselves here. Without the steady guidance of the Torah, the human heart, too, begins to blur what God has made distinct.
Where such distinctions erode, confusion inevitably follows. The categories of light and darkness, holy and common, clean and unclean become increasingly indistinct. When a society relinquishes these boundaries, it does not enter into a realm of greater freedom, but rather into one of deep disorientation.
Nature abhors a vacuum; where the virtue of distinction recedes, the vice of chaos is seldom far behind, waiting to fill the vacuum.
Yet it must be said with equal care that the distinctions articulated by the Torah are never intended to wound or exclude. Although further on the Lord tells Israel, “I have set you apart . . . to be Mine” (Leviticus 20:26), yet the prophet Isaiah tenderly reminds us, “Let not the foreigner say, ‘The Lord will exclude me’” (Isaiah 56:3). Here we encounter the sacred tension between the particular and the universal; a tension that can only be resolved through the covenantal work of Yeshua and his love filling our hearts.
Our sages recognized the importance of distinction and taught us to bless the “One who makes creatures different” (meshaneh ha-briyot), affirming that diversity itself is part of the Divine wisdom. Each distinction carries within it a unique dignity. Each person, each animal, each role, reflects a different facet of God’s glory. When these distinctions are honored within a framework of love and covenant, they do not divide us—they deepen our capacity to see one another and to see God more fully.
As we learn the correct distinctions as shown to us by the Torah, may we learn to love each other, not in spite of our distinctions, but because of our distinctions. May we see the unique facet of God’s beauty, distinct in the person sitting right next to us.
Shabbat shalom!