Innovations invariably face opposition, and the new approaches to Tanach study are no exception. The concentration on peshat, the text’s simple meaning, worries some that earlier traditional interpretations are being discarded; while other express concern that reverence for our ancestors is being undermined. A sign of greatness is the willingness to listen openly and carefully to criticism and to act accordingly; Rabbi Helfgot addresses these issues respectfully but firmly, marshalling an impressive variety of sources to buttress his conclusions.
Ultimately, however, what emerges from this work is passion, that begins with the author and emanates to the reader. Only someone deeply in love with the Tanach could have written a work of such high quality, and we are fortunate that Rabbi Helfgot did so.