 So the members of the Reform-aligned New Israelite Temple Society were free to found their own Jewish congregation.The fact that its members were no longer compelled to associate with the Ashkenazi DIG meant that it could possibly fall apart.In order to prevent this and to reconstitute the DIG as a religious body with voluntary membership in a liberal civic state the DIG held general elections among its full-aged male members, to form a college of 15 representatives (Repräsentanten-Kollegium), who would further negotiate the future constitution of the DIG.