Sha'alvim ( he, שַׁעַלְבִים) is a religious

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

in central

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and one of only two affiliated with

Poalei Agudat Yisrael Poalei Agudat Yisrael ( he, פועלי אגודת ישראל, , Agudat Yisrael Workers) was a trade union and Jewish political party in Poland and a minor political party in Israel. It was also known as PAI or PAGI, its Hebrew acronym (Hebrew: ...

(

Hafetz Haim Hafetz Haim (, ''lit.'' desirous of life) is a religious kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah, it falls under the jurisdiction of Nahal Sorek Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The land on which Hafetz Haim w ...

being the other). Located near the city of

Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( he, מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is an Israeli city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In t ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the area of Sha'alvim belonged to the Nahiyeh (sub-district) of Lod that encompassed the area of the present-day city of

in the south to the present-day city of El’ad in the north, and from the foothills in the east, through the Lod Valley to the outskirts of

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

in the west. This area was home to thousands of inhabitants in about 20 villages, who had at their disposal tens of thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land. The kibbutz was founded on 13 August 1951 by a

Nahal Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

group from the Ezra movement, on lands of the depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of

Salbit Salbit ( ar, سلبيت, also spelled Selbît) was a Palestinian Arab village located southeast of al-Ramla. Salbit was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War after a military assault by Israeli forces. The Israeli locality of Shaalvim w ...

. It was named after a biblical location mentioned in

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

, and

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

, probably located here. The hill between the kibbutz and Nof Ayalon is commonly known as Tel Sha'alvim. Until the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

it was a target of numerous attacks from the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

due to its proximity to the Green Line. According to a document captured from the Jordanian

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 1 ...

, the legion was planning to attack the village and massacre all its residents. In 1961, a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy a ...

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

References

{{Gezer Regional Council Kibbutzim Nahal settlements Populated places established in 1951 Religious Israeli communities Populated places in Central District (Israel) 1951 establishments in Israel