Oliver Cromwell and the Jews: a correction

[Behind the Aegis]

Ken Livingstone was caught off guard recently. In an interview with SomethingJewish.co.uk he was asked how London was going to celebrate next year's 350th anniversary of the readmission of the Jews to England. He replied: "Well, until you mentioned it, I hadn't remembered when we had re-admitted the Jews. I can't even remember who threw them out!" Fortunately for the mayor, his office is one step ahead of him. "Jews were welcomed by Cromwell in 1656," reads a new guide to Jewish cultural events in London. "Throughout 2006, we pay special tribute to their heritage, presence and future in Britain."

The celebrations kick off next week, when two public conferences will debate the question "Why Did Cromwell Take Us Back?". The Arts Council has funded a new play; the Greater London authority is considering an autumn event in Trafalgar Square, complete with giant menorah; and Tate Modern plans to host an anniversary concert.

The trouble is, Cromwell did not readmit the Jews to England in 1656. In fact, he didn't readmit them at all. Certainly they'd been expelled, by Edward I in 1290. In 1655, Menasseh ben Israel, a leader of the Jewish community in Amsterdam, came to England to persuade Cromwell to let them back in. In December that year, a conference of lawyers, merchants and theologians met to discuss the issue, but failed to reach a verdict. According to one account, "the Preachers kept pelting one another so furiously with Texts of Scripture, and wiping their Spectacles, that the Debates continued for four Days; though very little was said on the Question of the Jews' resettlement."

... http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1663271,00.html

[Colorado Blue]

1. Interesting article. Given what's been going on with the

President of Iran, it's too bad this isn't in GD.

[Coastie for Truth]

2. Explains a lot.