Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz - Misrepresenter of Judaism, even Orthodoxy

In reading an interview with Steinsaltz, (of steinsaltz Talmud fame), I am reminded of some encounter I had with him 20 years ago. Here is the quote:

"It was a big mistake to make the education in Israel based so much on the Bible,” Steinsaltz says, in between puffs of his pipe. “Because the Bible was written by prophets. If you read the Bible, you somehow become in your mind a little prophet. That’s the way in which Israelis speak to each other they don’t have conversations, they all have complete and unlimited knowledge. Learning Talmud would bring a big change to the Israeli mind, because it deals with and is connected to dialectic.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/never-mind-the-bible-its-the-sanity-of-the-talmud-you-need-to-understand-the-world-and-yourself-adin-steinsaltz/#ixzz34jiheNh7

Typical of anti-Torah rabbinics, he is putting the Talmud above the TeNach.

However, in the days I was Orthodox, I challenged him on the Chabad Messianism, of which he played a big part, since they were misrepresenting the Rambam, which they claimed supported their "Messiah". Maimonides in his Hilchot Melachim (Kings and Wars) writes in Ch.11:


Halacha 4


If a king will arise from the House of David who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor, will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance, and fight the wars of God, we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach.
If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach.

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1188356/jewish/Melachim-uMilchamot-Chapter-11.htm


At the time, Chabad were claiming that their wheelchair-bound rebbe was this presumptive Moshiach. This was despite the Rabbinical Halacha requiring satisfaction of certain conditions, namely a King arises; he compels all Israel to keep the Torah and fight the Wars (wars in the Land of Israel).
Since the Rebbe was not a King, had not compelled all Israel to keep the Torah (whether Written or also oral law), and had not fought any wars, or even fired a shot - in fact he never even visited Israel as a solider, let alone fight in the army - I said they are mistaken. Steinsaltz said that it doesn't matter what these criteria are or whether they are fulfilled partially or fully, rather they are characteristics.
This is nonsense, from both a logical and halachic perspective. It is like saying a pig is kosher, because it has certain characteristics of a kosher animal, eg it produces leather, like a cow does; it suckles its young like a goat does, and has cloven hooves like a sheep. The characteristics statement was the final straw. It shows that Steinsaltz, although a prolific scholar, is misrepresenting Judaism to suit his own ideological goals and fantasies.