Women and authority

 Igros Moshe (Y.D. 02:044):Can the widow of a mashgiach be a mashgiah in her husband’s place? From the aspects of trustworthiness there is absolutely no concern and she could be relied upon. However there is a concern based on the Rambam (Melachim 1:5) who stated that all appointments to positions of authority have to be men, even though I don’t’ know the justification for his position. The Sifre cited by the Kesef Mishne, Radvaz and Migdal Oz only says king but not queen but not a general rule that applies to all positions of authority. It would appear that this is simply the Rambam’s personal thought and is not that of the Sifre. It appears from Kiddushin (76) that it is proper since a comparable position of supervising weights is permitted.It seems that even though the Rambam is opposed to appointing women but others appear to disagree, For example the Chinuch does say a king but not queen but doesn’t say that all other positions of authority are limited to men and also Tosfos(Sotah 41) as well as Rashi and Ran in Kiddushin (76) as I mentioned before. Therefore in a situation of great need one can rely on those who disagree with the Rambam and appoint her to replace her late husband.