Editing Monsey, New York (section)

==History==
Rockland County was inhabited by the [[Christian Munsee|Munsee]] band of [[Lenape]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]], who were speakers of the [[Algonquian languages]]. Monsey Glen, a Native American encampment, is west of the intersection of [[New York State Route 59|State Route 59]] and [[New York State Route 306|State Route 306]]. Numerous artifacts have been found there and some rock shelters are still visible. The Monsey railroad station, named from an alternate spelling of the Munsee Lenape, was built when the [[Erie Railroad|New York & Erie Railroad]] passed through the glen in 1841.<ref name="Weinstock">{{cite news|first=Cheryl Platzman|last=Weinstock|title=If You're Thinking of Living In/Monsey; Low Inventory, Lots of Kugel, Some Deer|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E2D71F3DF933A25751C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 10, 2002|access-date=February 2, 2012}}</ref>

In 1943, Rabbi [[Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz]] purchased a property in Monsey with the intention to raise the education level of Torah teachers. Named Aish Dos (Pillar of Fire), the institute comprised two buildings on a 16-acre plot. In 1944 it was reconstituted as Beth Medrash Elyon, Monsey's first Jewish institution.<ref>Rosenblum, Yonason "Reb Shraga Feivel" Mesorah Publications, Inc. 2002. Pages 291, 299</ref>

In the 1950s, Monsey was a one stoplight town with a single [[yeshiva]]. In 1979,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohr.edu/web/branches/monsey.htm |title = Ohr Somayach Monsey « Ohr Somayach}}</ref> Rabbi Ezriel Tauber and a group of lay leaders purchased land in Monsey for the American campus of the [[Ohr Somayach, Monsey|Ohr Somayach Yeshiva]].<ref>{{cite book
|title=Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0231137281  |isbn=978-0231137287
|author=Dana Evan Kaplan  |date=2009}} "In 1979, Ohr Somayach opened a branch of their yeshiva in Monsey"</ref>

By 1997, Monsey had 112 [[synagogue]]s and 45 yeshivas.<ref name = "Berger">{{cite news
| title       = Growing Pains for a Rural Hasidic Enclave
| first       = Joseph
| last        = Berger
| url         = https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/13/nyregion/growing-pains-for-a-rural-hasidic-enclave.html?pagewanted=all
| newspaper   = [[The New York Times]]
| date        = January 13, 1997
| access-date  = February 2, 2012
}}
</ref>

Located in Monsey is the [[Houser-Conklin House]], listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2010.<ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20101008.htm|title=National Register of Historic Places|date=2010-10-08|work=WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 9/27/10 THROUGH 10/01/10|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

Having the largest Orthodox Jewish community in Rockland County, Monsey has become a metonym for Orthodox Jews in all of Rockland, including those who live in neighboring hamlets and villages such as Viola, Airmont, and Spring Valley.<ref>Berger, Joseph [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/arts/television/my-unorthodox-life-debate.html Netflix Series Stirs Debate About the Lives of Ultra-Orthodox Women] ''New York Times'' Oct. 27, 2021</ref>