Eli Federman’s Op-Ed in the Forward: Ending the Culture of Silence
At the Passover Seder, we are supposed to ask questions about why things are done the way they are. Recently I asked some questions about the government-funded social service agency that serves my Jewish community in Brooklyn, the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council. Specifically, I questioned the policy that only allows men to vote for the council’s leaders. In public letters I argued that the policy might violate the Constitution (or at least civil rights statutes), and I cited various sources in support of my contention that there is no halachic reason for excluding women from voting in elections for a secular organization.