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( British Jews)
266,740-300,000 The first recorded Jewish community in the British Isles was brought to England in 1070 by King William the Conqueror, who believed that their commercial skills and incoming capital would make England more prosperous. This community was expelled in 1290 by King Edward I. A small community persisted in hiding despite the expulsion. The current community dates itself back to 1656, when Oliver Cromwell made it clear that the ban on Jewish settlement would no longer be enforced. In 2006, the Jewish community celebrated the 350th anniversary of the resettlement.[1] The Jewish population in the 2001 Census was published as 266,740 people. However, this figure did not include Jews who identified 'by ethnicity only' in England and Wales or Scottish Jews who identified as Jewish by upbringing but held no current religion. These broader definitions brought the total number of Jews enumerated in the United Kingdom in the 2001 Census to 270,499. [2]. However, some 20,000 unexpected Jews living in areas far from established communities all over the country identified as following the Jewish religion (the 2001 census for the first time included a question on religion which was not mandatory to answer). The only region in the country where no Jews identified was the Scilly Islands. On the other hand it is known that a considerable number of strictly Orthodox Jews in N.E. London, N.W.London and Manchester chose not to answer the question. From 2005, for the first time in at least 40 years, the number of births in the community exceeded the number of deaths [3] The British Jewish community enjoys a wide range of organisations, funded by private donations, which provide support to Jews of all religious denominations and none
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