Please tell me the halachic basis for granting/denying voting rights to women in an Orthodox synagogue.

Hi,
Thank you for the question. In terms of halachic (legal) reasoning for allowing women to vote in shul elections there is no reason why women cannot vote in shul elections. In terms of having a female president or other elected officers that will be up to each shul to determine its individual comfort level. This has nothing to do with whether it is halachicly permissible for a woman to represent a shul or not. It has to do with the “tznius,” or
“modesty” that the shul wants to portray to the general community. Most orthodox shuls have women vote and have women on committees and on the general boards. The only issue that is usually brought up is putting women in positions where they will be speaking and interacting with men on a regular basis. Some synagogues choose not to go down that road while others are comfortable with it. Again, this is not a halachic issue, but rather an issue of individual and communal modesty. I hope that this helps.

Be Well,
Rabbi Litt

Thank you so much Rabbi for your fast response. I appreciate it.