Sha'alvim is a religious kibbutz

Kibbutz

A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

 in central Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Located near the city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut

Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut

Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut is a city in the Center District of Israel located approximately halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of Modi'in and Maccabim-Re'ut...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council

Gezer Regional Council

Gezer Regional Council is a regional council in the Center District of Israel. Established in 1949, it had a population of 20,700 in 2006.-List of settlements:The council covers five kibbutzim, 15 moshavim and five communal settlementsKibbutzim...

.

History

The kibbutz was founded on 13 August 1951 by a Nahal

Nahal

Nahal is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Historically, it refers to a program that combines military service and establishment of new agricultural settlements, often in outlying areas...

 group from the Ezra movement, on lands of the depopulated Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 village Salbit

Salbit

Salbit was a Palestinian Arab village located southeast of al-Ramla. It has been identified with the biblical town of Shaalabbin which was located northwest of biblical Aijalon . Salbit was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war after a military assault by Israeli forces...

. It was named after a Biblical location mentioned in , and in . The hill between the kibbutz and Nof Ayalon is commonly known as Tel Sha'alvim. Until the Six-Day War

Six-Day War

The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

 it was a target of numerous attacks from the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

 due to its proximity to the Green Line

Green Line (Israel)

Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...

. According to a document captured from the Jordanian Arab Legion

Arab Legion

The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...

, the legion was planning to attack the village and massacre all its residents.

In 1961, a yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

, Yeshivat Sha'alvim

Yeshivat Sha'alvim

Yeshivat Sha'alvim is a hesder yeshiva located near Kibbutz Sha'alvim.- History :Yeshivat Sha'alvim was founded in 1961 by Rabbi Meir Schlesinger, the rabbi of Kibbutz Sha'alvim...

, was founded in Sha'alvim, and later became a large regional religious education facility.