When did Jews return to Jerusalem?

They never left. There has been a Jewish presence in Jerusalem since King David established the city as Israel’s capital 3,000 years ago. Even when most Jews were forced out of their homeland, when most of them were forcibly dispersed, Jerusalem continued to harbor a small Jewish community centered around the holy sites, and Jews around the world continued to place Jerusalem at the center of their spiritual lives. Everywhere in the world, from India to Medieval Europe, Jews prayed in the direction facing Jerusalem and repeated the refrain “Next Year in Jerusalem.”

Source: One Jerusalem