After his marriage, he entered the kollel at the Harry Fischel Institute in Jerusalem and began delivering shiurim to American students.

[4] In its early years, Neve was considered an unofficial sister school to the Ohr Somayach yeshiva for baal teshuva men in Jerusalem.

[3][5] First located in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem, Neve expanded in the 1970s with a Hebrew division, a preparatory school, and the one-year Shalhevet program.

[1] According to Refson, the idea of adding seminaries to the baalot teshuvah campus was meant to augment the girls' experience of Judaism, "creating a culture where kashrus, Shabbos and tzniyus are taken for granted".

[3] The English-speaking student body at Neve hails from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, and Australia.

Neve acquired its 6-acre (2.4 ha) campus in Har Nof with significant funding from the Committee for Aid and Development Abroad chaired by United States Senator Daniel Inouye.