"This month shall be for you" (Exodus 12:2). Rabbi Levi opened: "You shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and I have separated you from the peoples" (Leviticus 20:26). Had He said "and I have separated the peoples from you," there would have been no standing for the nations of the world. Rather, "and I have separated you," like one who picks out the good from amid the bad and goes back and picks again; but when one picks the bad from amid the good, he no longer picks. Rabbi Levi said: all the deeds of Israel differ from the nations of the world: in their plowing, in their sowing, in their reaping, in their sheaving, in their threshing, in their granaries, in their winepresses, in their counting, and in their reckoning. In their plowing, "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together" (Deuteronomy 22:10). In their sowing, "You shall not sow your vineyard with mixed kinds" (Deuteronomy 22:9). In their reaping, "You shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest" (Leviticus 19:9). In their sheaving, "And you forget a sheaf in the field" (Deuteronomy 24:19). In their threshing, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it threshes" (Deuteronomy 25:4). In their granaries and winepresses, "You shall surely furnish him out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress" (Deuteronomy 15:14). In their counting and their reckoning, that the nations of the world count by the sun and Israel by the moon.
Israel Set Apart Like One Who Chooses the Good From the Bad
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 190:1
הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם. רַבִּי לֵוִי פָּתַח (ויקרא כ, כו) "וִהְיִיתֶם לִי קְדֹשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי ה' וָאַבְדִּל אֶתְכֶם מִן הָעַמִּים", אִם אָמַר וָאַבְדִּיל עַמִּים מִכֶּם לֹא הָיְתָה תְּקוּמָה לְאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, אֶלָּא "וָאַבְדִּל אֶתְכֶם" כְּזֶה שֶׁבּוֹרֵר הַיָּפֶה מִתּוֹךְ הָרַע וְחוֹזֵר וּבוֹרֵר אֲבָל כְּשֶׁהוּא בּוֹרֵר אֶת הָרַע מִתּוֹךְ הַיָּפֶה שׁוּב אֵינוֹ בּוֹרֵר. אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי, וְכָל מַעֲשֵׂיהֶן שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל מְשֻׁנִּין מֵאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, בַּחֲרִישָׁתָן וּבִזְרִיעָתָן וּבִקְצִירָתָן וּבְעִימּוּרָן וּבְדִישָׁתָן, בְּגָרְנֵיהֶן וּבְיִקְבֵיהֶן, בְּמִנְיָנָן וּבְחֶשְׁבּוֹנָן. בַּחֲרִישָׁתָן (דברים כב, י) "לֹא תַּחֲרֹשׁ בְּשׁוֹר וּבַחֲמֹר יַחְדָּו". בִּזְרִיעָתָן, "לֹא תִּזְרַע כַּרְמְךָ כִּלְאָיִם". בִּקְצִירָתָן (ויקרא יט, ט) "וְלֶקֶט קְצִירְךָ לֹא תְלַקֵּט". בְּעִימּוּרָן, "וְשָׁכַחְתָּ עֹמֶר בַּשָׂדֶה". בְּדִישָׁתָן, (שם כה, ד) "לֹא תַחְסֹם שׁוֹר בְּדִישׁוֹ". בְּגָרְנֵיהֶן וּבְיִקְבֵיהֶן, (שם טו, יד) "הַעֲנֵיק תַּעֲנִיק לוֹ מִצֹּאנְךָ וּמִגָּרְנְךָ וּמִיִּקְבֶךָ". בְּמִנְיָנָן וּבְחֶשְׁבּוֹנָן, שֶׁיְּהוּ אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם מוֹנִין לַחַמָּה וְיִשְׂרָאֵל לַלְּבָנָה.