Jews have been in Brasov since 1807, when Aron Ben Jehuda was given permission by the until then restrictive Saxons to live in the city. The Jewish Community of Brasov was officially founded 19 years later, followed by the first Jewish school in 1864 and building of the synagogue in 1901. The Jewish population of Brasov expanded rapidly to 1280 'souls' in 1910 and 4,000 in 1940. Today the community has about 230 members, after many families left for Israel between WWII and 1989.