Yeshivat Sha'alvim was founded in 1961 by Meir Schlesinger, the rabbi of Kibbutz Sha'alvim. The yeshiva, like the kibbutz, was originally affiliated with
Poalei Agudat Yisrael ("Agudat Israel Workers"). Schlesinger was the
rosh yeshiva for over 30 years. The yeshiva's campus includes a
kollel (for
rabbanut and
dayanut), a teachers college, a
yeshiva high-school for boys, an
ulpana high school for girls, an elementary school and a Talmud Torah. In the early 1990s a National Religious yishuv named
Nof Ayalon was built around the Sha'alvim educational campus. Over 400 families live in the yishuv including many graduates of the yeshiva. The yeshiva also has a
post-high-school seminary for girls from the United States and other countries, in Jerusalem. The yeshiva is headed by Rav Michael Yammer, son of
Max Jammer; the kollel is headed by Gidon Binyamin, rabbi of Nof Ayalon. In 2006 Yeshivat Sha'alvim took control of the
Isaac Breuer Institute (also formerly affiliated with Poalei Agudat Israel), which issues the scholarly quarterly ''HaMa'ayan''. == Overseas program ==