18 | JULY 8 • 2021

OUR COMMUNITY

T

hrough the sport of video
games, young Jewish
North Americans and
Israelis have the chance to con-
nect and “find their tribe.
”
Lost Tribe Esports, an organi-
zation focused on strengthening
Jewish identity among teens,
hopes their gaming platform will
create one million
Jewish friendships
in the next three
years.
“We have the
underlying belief
that Jewish friend-
ships lead to Jewish
parents,
” explains video game
programming expert Michal
Nodel, 39, of Bloomfield Hills,
who was recently hired by Lost
Tribe as their director of Israel
operations.
Nodel, a veteran of the video
game industry, is joining the
organization to increase Israeli
engagement while developing
programs that will include Israel.
Right now, Lost Tribe sees 90%
of its engagement in North
America and 10% in Israel —
but the goal is to increase pres-
ence on the Israeli side. Nodel,
born in Israel and fluent in
Hebrew and English, will lead
those efforts.
Launched in 2019, Lost Tribe
has already seen 20,000 Jewish
teens engage with its platform,
which offers gaming experi-
ences for all interests. From
sports games like Major League
Baseball and FIFA (internation-

al soccer), to sandbox games
like Minecraft, teens in North
America and Israel can log on to
Discord, where Lost Tribe has a
gaming server, and play games
with or against one another.
“
A way to think of Lost Tribe
is like a virtual JCC,
” Nodel
explains. “It’s a virtual recreation
area where Jewish teens hang
out. It’s kind of like a hangout
space for the next generation.
”
Nodel says every time she logs
on to Lost Tribe’s server, there
are 400-500 kids online play-
ing games with their friends in
other countries. She says these
connections are more important
than ever, since Jewish teens may
disengage from Jewish life after
their bar or bat mitzvah.
Lost Tribe’s programming
includes regular online gaming
tournaments, and participants
also have a chance to be matched
up to play with various teens
who are enrolled in the com-
munity, which is free to join. Its
Discord server includes different
channels based on games or
topics, so kids can jump right in
and begin playing any game they
want to.

RAPID GROWTH
Despite being a small and new
organization, Nodel says Lost
Tribe’s rapid growth is influenced
by its strong social media pres-
ence.
The COVID-19 pandemic
also boosted its community,
since kids worldwide were under

lockdown and turned to virtual
means to engage with friends.
Yet, it’s not just games that
kids can interact with. Lost Tribe
also has a learning component.
It posts facts and history about
Israel on its social media, using
its platforms to combat rising
antisemitism as well.
“There’s a lot of negativity on
social media,
” Nodel explains.
“Lost Tribe is using its power
to share positive information,
which can be really impactful
for young people who are get-
ting a lot of exposure to some
not-so-positive information.
”
Lost Tribe is also helping
North American teens under-
stand the crisis between Israelis
and Palestinians. During the
recent Gaza bombings, Nodel
says Israeli teens were writing to
their North American gaming
friends on the Discord server
about what they were seeing in
their hometowns.
“‘Hey, I’m in Ra’anana. My
dad’s still at work and our sirens
are going off. I’m worried he’s
not going to get home in time,
’”
Nodel remembers one Israeli
teen wrote on Discord.
“That lands a ton of bricks on,
let’s say, a 14-year-old who’s sit-
ting in North America at home,
engaging online.
“[You realize] this isn’t just
something that’s going on on
CNN,
” she continues. “This
is very real. Someone who is
exactly your age and shares
your interests is going through

a whole experience. The impact
of that for teenagers brings
something very far away close to
home.
”

ADL PARTNERSHIP
To further combat antisemitism
and misinformation, Lost Tribe
is also partnering with ADL
(Anti-Defamation League) to
provide resources for kids who
might be confused or frightened
by what they see happening in
their personal lives or on social
media. Additionally, as COVID-
19 restrictions continue to ease,
Lost Tribe is also working on
planning trips to Israel.
The gaming organization has
goals to expand even further
to other areas of the world and
recently held online events with
communities in Argentina,
Germany and the United
Kingdom.
It is also building a large-scale
campaign around the upcoming
Olympic Games to teach Lost
Tribe members about participat-
ing Israeli athletes through social
content and other feature stories.
The ability to connect instant-
ly, Nodel says, and to have fun
while doing so, is what makes
Lost Tribe and online gaming
an excellent gateway for Jewish
teens around the world to con-
nect.
“Lost Tribe has tremendous
advantage where our community
is actually engaging all the time,
”
she says. “We have 24/7 engage-
ment.
”

Through online video games,
North American and Israeli teens
build lasting friendships.

A ‘Virtual JCC’
for Teens

Michal
Nodel

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A group of Lost Tribe gamers