Reply To: Rav Wolbe

“A ‘Chidush’ is attained when the person himself

becomes renewed from his / her understanding. If a person says a ‘Pshat’ in a verse

but on the person it makes no impression, that’s not a Chidush. If a person really

says a Chidush in Torah he should feel an internal exhilaration from it. Obviously,

the Chidush has to be well founded. If one ‘pulls from his finger’ an idea in Torah,

that’s not a Chidush, a Chidush must be well grounded with proofs.”

(Verbatim from Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe z”l)