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I understand that in theory everyone can interpret the Torah and find his own Chiddushim from a renown Rabbi to a secular Jew, young and old, Jew and non-Jew. Today we can see myriads of Perushim and whole books by secular Jews and non-Jews with no relation or foundation to our tradition.

Are there any rules that cannot be broken by interpreters that we, the Orthodox Jews will see as legitimate? Or, on the other hand, what interpretation we can clearly say are illegitimate in our view?

For example, can one tell a Chidush that contradicts Rashi, or Gemmorah or the 13 principles?

Al Berko
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    Related https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/27246/3 – WAF Dec 08 '18 at 18:08
  • Is the purpose of a chiddush to teach a lesson based on the Torah, or is its purpose to tell over a historically accurate description of the Torah? – ezra Dec 09 '18 at 04:32
  • @Ezra I was thinking of interpretations, questioning historical authenticity of the Torah is different – Al Berko Dec 09 '18 at 07:24
  • See https://jewishaction.com/?p=17321 – msh210 Jan 20 '19 at 22:07
  • @msh210 Thank you, Here's the bottom-line: "Some of the traditional commentators display remarkable creativity explaining Scripture in a way that deviates substantially from Chazal. I cannot tell you whether a particular interpretation has crossed the line. Such a decision often requires the intuition of a gadol. However, ultimately, we must always treat the words of Chazal with reverence and accept that sometimes there are even limits on peshat." – Al Berko Jan 22 '19 at 13:49
  • @msh210 Can you please summarize the article and post it as an answer because I'm afraid the link will not last long. – Al Berko Jan 22 '19 at 14:11
  • By all means go ahead. – msh210 Jan 22 '19 at 18:22
  • How do you know if your interpretation of what can be a legitimate interpretation is itself a legitimate interpretation? – Alex Feb 07 '19 at 03:51

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