Un/Visible. Four Kippahs and the Making of Jewish Life in Europe

Since October 7 2023, European Jews’ sense of security has been shaken, and the question of »Jewish visibility« has become urgent: should one conceal one’s Jewishness or display it? This lecture proposes looking at the Jewish kippah not as a piece of Judaica, but as a Schicksalsobjekt that marks four different ways of being Jewish in Europe today: from the religious discretion of »privatized« Judaism, which keeps the kippah low-profile; through defiant kippah-wearing as a liberal protest against insecurity - a counter-private stance; through an open and confident presence that seeks to shape the public sphere, enacting public Judaism; and finally, the kippah as part of a distinctive dress that aims to build an alternative Ultra-Orthodox world - counter-public Judaism. These competing kippahs offer a concrete ground for thinking about the politics of visibility, security, citizenship, and Jewish space in contemporary Europe.