after. The Orthodox press monitored the affair closely, warning of the danger the "Status Quo" pose to the Committee's stance in the ongoing struggle with the Neologs. Meir Perls, a leading traditional rabbi, wrote Schick in support of Seelenfreind, who he believed was wronged. The rabbi responded in April, writing that considering the nationwide situation, all those who do not affiliate with Orthodox organization are trespassing the commandment "neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour" (Leviticus 19:16) for the Neologs are a danger to the spirit, which is even graver than being a physical threat. This responsa, wrote Katz, became an important milestone, granting Halakhic sanction to the Committee. The Orthodox declared a ban on all religious functionaries - rabbis, rabbinical judges, ritual slaughterers, circumcisers and others - who remained serving in Congressional communities, stating they will never be accepted among or employed by their congregations. Based on Schick's statement, it was extended to the Status Quo as well. Even the fervently schismatic Samson Raphael Hirsch of Germany, who preached Orthodox secession in his native land, did not always toe the Hungarian line: in 1881, a faction in Hőgyész's unified Status Quo congregation sought to leave it and join the Committee independently. The town's rabbi sent Hirsch a letter stating his community was fully observant and adhered to the Shulchan Aruch. The German rabbi replied that he was right in opposing the secessionists, but asked for his response not to be published openly. Aftermath While the separation between the Orthodox and the rest was an official policy of the Executive Committee, relations between the sectors were never severed. In the field of burial, especially, many divided communities refrained from forming separate Holy Societies and cemeteries. In spring 1872, Chaim Sofer wrote Schick, proposing to officially proclaim an anathema upon all Congressionals, thus forbidding marriage with them. The Rabbi of Huszt – who, at the very same time, attempted to convince rabbis in Germany to enact similar sanctions against the Reform communities in their country – refused him on practical grounds, stating both the government and Jewish public opinion will not approve. Though several conservative rabbis frowned upon this, members of the different sectors did not cease to intermarry. The ban on functionaries, too, was mainly declaratory. Virtually all candidates to those positions, except rabbis, were Orthodox Yeshiva graduates, and the prohibition created intense competition for jobs among