01 Sep A WOMAN AS SHUL PRESIDENT

And Miriam the
prophetess, the sister
of Aharon, took the
drum in her hand,
and all of the women
followed her with
drums and dances.

Shemos 15:20
Introduction
A number of Orthodox Shuls have either
suggested appointing or actually have
appointed women to serve as their presidents
or on their board of directors. Assuming that
the community is one in which women are
generally taking leading roles in communal
activities, is there any halachic objection to
women serving in these roles? To the extent
that there are halachic sensitivities, is it an
absolute prohibition, or is it something that
allows for some degree of leeway depending
on the community?
The Source
The main objection to having a woman serve
in a position of authority comes from a
comment in the Rambam (Hilchos Melachim
1:5). The Torah instructs (Devarim 17:15),
“Som tasim alecha melech,” “You shall
appoint a king over you,” and the Sifri

(Shoftim 157) derives from this that we
specifically appoint a king and not a queen.
The Rambam elaborates that this applies not
only to actual royal appointments, but to any
position that requires an official appointment
and constitutes authority over others (serarah).
This would likely preclude a woman from
serving as a shul president, since it is an
appointment that carries a certain level of
authority.
Rav Moshe’s Explanation
Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, YD
2:44,45) suggests that the Rambam is based
on a Gemara in Yevamos (45b), which rules,
based on the same pasuk, that a ger is not
permitted to be appointed as a king, nor may
he be given any position of authority. Thus,
the Rambam is simply applying the Gemara’s
reasoning to the Sifri. When one is excluded
from the right to be appointed as a king, he is
similarly excluded from all positions of
authority.
Defining Serarah
In order to know what the Rambam would
prohibit, it is essential to understand what
constitutes a position of serarah. The Gemara
in Kiddushin (76b) teaches that a ger should
not be given the job of inspecting vendors’

weights and measures. Rav Moshe (YD 4:26)
explains that although this is certainly not a
prestigious position, it is one that allows the
individual to oversee and work against what
others in his field – even those who hired him
– are trying to accomplish. In this case, the
local vendors might be attempting to cheat
with their weights and measures, and it is the
inspector’s job to keep their dishonest
proclivities in check. In contrast, a CEO of a
company, who is obviously in a more
prestigious and authoritative position, is not
there to work against anyone in the company,
but to more generally manage and make
important decisions for the company.
Based on this definition, Rav Moshe rules that
a ger can serve as a rosh yeshiva or a
mashgiach in a yeshiva, even though he has
the authority to throw students out of the
school. This is because a rosh yeshiva works
for the yeshiva’s board of directors and is
supposed to implement their demands, not to
work against them. Thus, we find that in a
wide range of religious communities, women
serve as principals and heads of school.
On the other hand, a mashgiach of kashrus is
considered to hold a position of serarah, since
he is hired to supervise and keep the business
owner in check, sometimes working against
the owner’s business interests in the name of
kashrus. Based on this, Rav Moshe ruled
that a woman cannot serve as the chief
mashgiach of a factory or facility. He did,
however, permit a woman to work for a rav
hamachshir and serve to implement his
policies.
Other Opinions in the Rishonim
Many other rishonim seem to dispute the
Rambam’s application of serarah and do
permit a woman to serve in various public
appointments.
Tosafos (Niddah 50a, s.v. kol), in discussing
the role that Devorah played as a shofetes,
cites an opinion that a woman is permitted
to serve as a dayan, which is certainly a
position of serarah.
The Sefer HaChinuch (497), in describing
the mitzvah of appointing a king, mentions
that a woman cannot be appointed to this
position, while in the next mitzvah, he
writes that a ger cannot be appointed to a
position of serarah and makes no mention of
women in this regard. This indicates that the
Chinuch also argues with the Rambam.
Rav Moshe points out that Rashi (Kiddushin
76b) and the Ran (Kiddushin 31a in dapei
HaRif) understand that the source of the
issur of serarah for a ger is the words “som
tasim,” whereas the Rambam’s source
prohibiting a woman from serarah is the
word “melech” (velo malkah), thus
indicating that they are not necessarily
related. Rav Moshe adds that the Ramban
and Rashba likely disagree with the
Rambam as well, since they do not deal with

the issue of Devorah serving as a judge,
indicating that they likely have no problem
with it.
However, the Ritva (Shevuos 30a, s.v.
shevuas) does agree with the Rambam that a
woman cannot be appointed as a dayan.
Based on the fact that this is a machlokes
rishonim and it is an issue of an issur d’oraysa,
Rav Moshe rules that we should be machmir
for the opinion of the Rambam and refrain
from appointing women to positions of
serarah.
A Shul President
Do we consider a shul president to be a
position of serarah? According to Rav Moshe’s
definition, the answer would be yes. The
president and board members of a shul are
there to ensure that the rabbi and the members
of the shul are following their mandates
appropriately, and they have to make
supervisory decisions that may be in conflict
with the desires and tendencies of others in the
shul. Rav Moshe therefore rules that a woman
may not serve as president or a board member
of a shul.
Other poskim, including Rav Soloveitchik,
permit women to serve on the shul board, but
not as president of the shul, as they view the
president as being the singular person of
authority, while other board members serve
merely as his deputies and do not have the
power to make any decisions on their own.
Rav Soloveitchik thought it wisest for women
not to serve as vice president either, since the
title would suggest that they are eligible to
become president. Rav Chaim Dovid HaLevi
(Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv from 1973-1998)
writes in a teshuvah that even according to the
Rambam, a woman should be able to serve as
president of a shul, since (in his opinion)
serarah applies only to a position that is given
through appointment or taken forcefully, not
to a position that is voted on by the public or
by the membership.
Other Considerations
It is important to note that a shul president
spends many hours working very closely with
the rabbi of the shul, and it is extremely
inadvisable for a man and a woman who are
not married to each other to spend so much
time together. While sometimes unavoidable
in a business context, it is wisest to avoid this
unwanted challenge in a Jewish communal
leadership context. This is true even if the
halachos of yichud are strictly adhered to and
everything is