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

