The neighbourhoods of Ma'ale Adumim, compared

Ma'ale Adumim is one hilltop city with a ring of neighbourhoods, each with its own small commercial centre and supermarket or minimarket. Nefesh B'Nefesh's view is simple: olim can be found all over the city. It does not single out an "Anglo neighbourhood", and neither do I. What follows is what official and community sources say about each area. Try the neighbourhood matcher once you know what matters to you.

A note on names

Municipal pages use these labels: Mitzpe Nevo, HaNachalim, Megadim (03), Tzemach HaSadeh (06), Nofei HaSela (07), Givat HaMeyasdim, Klei Shir and "the veteran neighbourhoods". The numbers are planning-site codes. Hebrew Wikipedia also names Kikar Yahalom, Avnei HaChoshen and HaMitzadim as neighbourhoods, but municipal pages do not, so treat those names as informal. Spelling varies too: you will see both Nofei Sela and Nofei HaSela.

A fun clue: most areas have a street-name theme. Megadim streets come from the Song of Songs, Tzemach HaSadeh streets are plants, Nofei HaSela streets are rocks and minerals, Klei Shir streets are biblical instruments, and HaNachalim's side streets are Judean Desert streams (Hebrew Wikipedia).

Mitzpe Nevo

The northern neighbourhood, home to Yeshivat Birkat Moshe and many of the shuls on the municipal list. In 2011 Kehillot Tehilla described Mitzpe Nevo and Klei Shir as the two areas with high concentrations of Anglos, with others spread through the city. That is an old source; NBN today says olim live everywhere. The municipal community-work unit supports a young-families group here ('Tze'irei Mitzpe Nevo'). Commercial centre: Derech Mitzpe Nevo 41-43.

Nofei HaSela (07)

The newest large neighbourhood: building of 3,500 homes began in 2000. It has the Karso centre (HaRekhes 31) with Maccabi and Clalit clinics, the Shluvim matnas branch, a women's mikveh and a Bnei Akiva branch. The Ministry of Education list places 28 of the city's 75 kindergartens here, so it is very much a young-family area.

Tzemach HaSadeh (06)

About 2,000 homes, first occupied in 1997. The matnas early-childhood branch is at Tzemach HaSadeh 29, Terem's urgent-care centre is on HaEshel St, and there is a women's mikveh and a young-families community ('Tze'irei 06'). Commercial centre: Tzemach HaSadeh 29.

Megadim (03)

Western neighbourhood around Pri Megadim St. The Megadim Ashkenazi and Sephardi shuls share Pri Megadim 25, and the Mikveh Shir is at Pri Megadim 105. The ministry list places 13 gans here.

HaNachalim and the veteran neighbourhoods

The original city grew around Kikar Yahalom, the main open-air shopping centre, with the culture hall, conservatory and library close by. The municipality uses "the veteran neighbourhoods" as an umbrella label that takes in Kikar Yahalom, Avnei HaChoshen, HaNachalim, Park HaKeren, the Family Park, HaMitzadim and others. Expect older buildings and the most central location. A pinui-binui (urban renewal) project on HaKeren St was announced in 2018.

Klei Shir, HaMitzadim, Givat HaMeyasdim

• Klei Shir: named on the matnas site; the HaShachar club is at HaTziltzal 17.
• HaMitzadim: described by Hebrew Wikipedia as villas and cottages, with streets named after desert fortresses.
• Givat HaMeyasdim: the founding site. In December 1975 23 families and six singles settled in a workers' camp here, beside Mishor Adumim.

Kfar Adumim (next door)

A separate community yishuv in the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, founded in 1979 for religious and secular families together, with about 580 families. New families go through an admissions process: forms, an interview, a suitability test, a committee, then a one-year candidacy. It shares schools and youth activities with Nofei Prat and Alon. See Kfar Adumim listings.

What I could not find

There is no official rent or price data by neighbourhood, and the matcher scores are my rough reading of the sources above, not official data. Area E1 (Mevaseret Adumim) is inside the city's jurisdiction but is a planned area, not a place people live yet. If you live here and something looks wrong, please tell me.