After a decade as a political speechwriter, Sarah Hurwitz decided to apply her skills as a communicator to writing a book about Judaism. And no one is more surprised than she is.
Hurwitz was the quintessential lapsed Jew—until, at age thirty-six, she happened upon an advertisement for an introductory class on Judaism. She attended on a whim, but was blown away by what she found. She wondered: How could there be such a gap between the richness of what Judaism offers and the way so many Jews like her understand and experience it?
Sarah Hurwitz is on a mission to close this gap by sharing the profound insights she discovered on everything from Jewish holidays, ethics, and prayer to Jewish conceptions of God, death, and social justice. In this entertaining and accessible book, she shows us why Judaism matters and how its message is more relevant than ever, and she inspires Jews to do the learning, questioning, and debating required to make this religion their own.
Join author Sarah Hurwitz in conversation with Rav Tiferet Berenbaum as they grapple with current issues and turn to Judaism for guidance.
Sarah Hurwitz, author of Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life -- in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There), was a White House speechwriter from 2009 to 2017, starting out as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and then serving as chief speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. Before working at the White House, Sarah was chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential primary campaign. She then joined the Obama campaign, serving as a senior speechwriter for then-Senator Obama. Sarah was also a lawyer at the Washington, DC office of WilmerHale and is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Sarah has been profiled in The Washington Post, People.com, The Boston Globe, and The Guardian; interviewed on The Today Show, Morning Joe, Amanpour & Co., and NPR; and featured in The Forward as one of 50 Jews who impacted American life in 2016 and 2019.
Rav Tiferet Berenbaum, Rabbi of Congregational Learning and Programming at Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, MA has had a front seat at the intersection of race, racism and religion and has gained valuable insights into how people see the world and refined her powers of empathy. She combines this deep understanding of people with knowledge of Judaism to engage learners from pre-school children to adults in our community’s spiritual, social, and educational programming. Rav Tiferet is an enthusiastic and natural-born teacher who received Rabbinic Ordination and a Master’s in Jewish Education from Hebrew College in 2013, after spending a year in Israel as part of her studies. Rav Tiferet served congregations in Milwaukee, WI and Mt. Holly, New Jersey then, fortunately for us, returned home to Boston and TBZ in 2019. Always desiring to continue to learn, she is currently pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. She graduated from Tufts University with two majors, Judaic Studies and Clinical Psychology.
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