Turning the Kaleidoscope and Religious Pluralism Inside-Out: The Case of Berlin’s Jewish Scene

Abstract

In recent years, Berlin has witnessed an ever-growing internationalization: Promoting itself as a creative and political centre, the city has attracted migrants from all over the world. As a consequence, its increasing internationalization has also impacted its religious communities. This chapter examines its effects on the Jewish and Hebrew scene and suggests ‘turning the kaleidoscope’ and examining religious pluralisms from the inside-out: from its inner complexities and contestations. Interrogating the conceptualization of religion and the secular in the framework of religious pluralisms, this chapter demonstrates the internal complexities of newly emerging religious groups characterized by processes of migration and conversion. Drawing on ethnographic and biographical research, the ambivalence and tensions of Jewish belonging highlight how religious pluralisms can no longer be conceptualized in terms of fixed congregations but must respond to the way in which urban cosmopolitan religious belonging is practiced and subject to constant negotiation. By doing so, this chapter sheds light on emergent religious pluralisms ‘in the making’ and thereby challenging the concept itself.