“Every moment was magical”: A look back at Lost Tribe Hanukkah

​​Hanukkah may be over but it was just the beginning for Lost Tribe. It was the start of something new, something bigger, something brighter. 

The story of Hanukkah in a nutshell: The Maccabees fight for Jewish tradition, rebel, and restore the  menorah to a ravaged temple. Oh, and the oil lasts eight days. But now, Hanukkah has taken on an entirely new meaning to Jews. 

Today, Hanukkah is about family, giving, miracles, and community. That’s why it’s such a huge holiday at Lost Tribe — it’s a time to bring everyone together. 

And we did. 

Over 5,000 unique viewers celebrated together virtually throughout the eight days of Lost Tribe Hanukkah streams. They connected through over 10,000 chat messages each day as our Lost Tribe influencers made latkes, debated sports, opened packs of Pokémon cards, and failed gloriously at Crab Game. But the experience went beyond hanging in Twitch chats and connecting with friends, new and old.

This year we lit candles and sang the blessing with dozens of Lost Tribe friends via video hookup, including Survival Africa champ, Ethan Zohn; Olympian Lenny Krayzelburg; Sara Beth Berman from the Jewish Education Project; and many more. 

Nearly 500 participants reported they would not have lit candles this year if not for Lost Tribe Hanukkah. This is five times the number in 2020. 

Lost Tribe streamer Chordify lights candles after directing our community in building the world’s largest Minecraft hanukkiah.

We overhauled our Discord (our 24/7 virtual hangout platform), creating an entirely new and organized space for Lost Tribe members to connect with each other.

“For me, every moment was magical,” said Jake Laumann, Lost Tribe’s director of gaming. “Seeing new and old community members alike engaging with Lost Tribe to celebrate Hanukkah was really special. Knowing that there were community members that only celebrated and lit candles because of Lost Tribe made the entire event a very memorable experience.” 

Oh, and we have some testimonials as well. 

“Thank you so much to everyone at Lost Tribe for making this the most amazing Hanukkah! Y’all put so much work into these past eight days and they were absolutely amazing!” — Ablasband

“I am just happy I found this.” — Sriracha

“I hope everyone stays on Lost Tribe because I enjoy every single second with you guys. I will 1,000,000% continue to be part of the Discord (like always). Lost Tribe is amazing!!!” – Alon

Lost Tribe Hanukkah was a massive, global event with over 35 hours of programming that brought thousands of new eyes to Lost Tribe. The holiday is over, but they will want to stick around and join our community, because 2022 is going to be the biggest year for Lost Tribe. Ever.

We have events planned that are even bigger and better than our Hanukkah celebration. Our Discord will be more active with more activities and opportunities for members to connect with peers than ever. We are moving into new content streams to engage all-new demographics within the Jewish teen community, making Lost Tribe more inclusive than ever before. And we have a massive trip to Israel planned that will bring together Lost Tribe members for the ultimate meet-up, in summer 2022. 

Phew. 

We are sort of like the Maccabees, rebelling, disrupting, and bringing new light. This is an entirely new space for Jewish teens to rediscover their community through gaming and nerding out. We are rolling into 2022 with amazing new ways to connect and celebrate, and we want all of you to come with us! 

Mazel Tov on an epic Hanukkah. Let’s make 2022 even wilder.