Some words that fall into overuse due to multiple meanings. “Great” is one. What does “great” mean in Jewish terms? This Shabbat is Shabbat Hagadol, partly due to the above verse at the end of the haftarah, and partly due to the Egyptians’ being too miraculously-stifled to protest us storing their ovine deities as we prepared them for the pascal sacrifice.

There is something odd about the word “great” for these events. The non-protest miracle was neither supernatural nor visible – it was the absence of action, unlike the Ten Plagues. The above verse describes “the great day” in cogent terms: no earth-shattering fireworks, simply families returning to their faith. “Greatness” makes no reference to numbers or statistics. It can be something nobody has seen or spotted. Greatness is about doing the right thing.

The Western world will limit “good” and “bad” to “what harms others”. In Jewish terms, that’s a small part of the picture: one can do good or bad alone, without anyone knowing or being directly affected.

Too many see Judaism as not based on rational thought, a wrongful ascription based on other religions. We are so proud of our Jewishness in other areas, but why are we always playing educational catch-up?

Why are we satisfied with just a cursory knowledge of key Jewish figures and their teachings? After all, it was they who did so much for the world and shaped much of its progress. Why are we satisfied with our young adults hearing of Descartes and Socrates but not Rambam and Ramchal? We can and should be proud of how much Judaism has taught the world, but that must go hand-in-hand with protecting true Jewish teachings from becoming overpowered.