S

arah Hurwitz, a former 
speechwriter for the 
Obamas, Hillary Clinton 
and Al Gore, has been giving 
speeches in Michigan that have 
nothing to do with politics. 
Hurwitz has spoken at Temple 
Israel in West Bloomfield, the 
University of Michigan and 
Michigan State University 
about Judaism for the release of 
her new book, Here All Along: 
Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and 
a Deeper Connection to Life-In 
Judaism (After Finally Choosing to 
Look There).
Hurwitz had a break in a 
personal relationship that moti-
vated her to fill her free time 
with a meaningful pursuit, and 
that became the exploration 
of Judaism. What she learned 
moved her from the spoken word 
(campaign speeches) to the writ-
ten word (a book about religion) 

and back to the spoken word 
(presentations about concepts 
covered in her book).
“I found everyone [involved 
in my research] had something 
interesting to offer, and I learned 
a lot from people of diverse 
Jewish backgrounds,
” Hurwitz 
says of the ideas she gathered 
from attending classes, listening 
to lectures, reading original reli-
gious texts and commentary and 
having one-to-one conversations. 
“The topics I was most per-
sonally interested in were Jewish 
spirituality and ethics,
” she says. 
“I think the ethics of modern 
society don’
t set a very high bar, 
whereas Judaism sets a high ethi-

cal bar in how we use our speech, 
how we treat other people and 
how we behave as members of a 
community.
”
Hurwitz, 42 and living in 
Washington, D.C., had been a 
lapsed Jew after her disappoint-
ment with religious classes she 
attended as a youngster. But her 
outlook changed as her world of 
religious experiences expanded. 
She attended a variety of 
Passover seders, some with per-
sonalized Haggad 
ahs, one where 
costumed guests reenacted the 
Exodus story and another with 
a banana on the seder plate, 
prompting reflection of the refu-
gee crisis. 

A reading at that seder about 
two young Syrian brothers and 
their mother who drowned on 
a Turkish beach on their own 
exodus to freedom moved guests 
to tears, she writes. The banana 
was a tribute to their father, who 
survived the journey and had 
brought his sons a banana to 
share every day in Syria. 
Through these experiences, 
Hurwitz became aware of indi-
vidual attempts to apply ancient 
values to modern issues.
Her book, published by Spiegel 
& Grau, goes into different ideas 
about God, holidays and life-cy-
cle rituals, among many other 
topics that include tracing the 
history of anti-Semitism and its 
impact today. 
She intends her book for those 
beginning in Judaism as well as 
the more observant.
“I think it’
s a little troubling 

44 | FEBRUARY 13 • 2020 

Here All Along

Political speechwriter’
s book shares her 
rediscovery of Jewish connection. 

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

VIOLET MARKELOU

TOP: Author Sarah Hurwitz

Arts&Life

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