Obama Speechwriter to Speak at Rosenblatt Memorial Lecture in Annapolis

Sarah Hurwitz is a wizard with words. As a top speechwriter forsome of the most prominent political players of our era — including formerPresident Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton —Hurwitz understands the importance of strong and evocative storytelling.

“Words have tremendous power to move and inspire people and tohelp them summon courage, compassion and hope, even in difficult andfrightening times,” said Hurwitz. “Unfortunately, words can also be used tostir up anger, fear, resentment and bigotry.”

On Sunday, Sept. 8, Hurwitz will be the keynote speaker at the annual Rabbi Morris D. and Rebbetzin Esther Rosenblatt Memorial Lecture at 11 a.m. at Kneseth Israel Synagogue, 1125 Spa Rd. in Annapolis.

In June, Jmore spoketo Hurwitz shortly before her appearance at Jewish Professional Women’s annual“LeadHERship Event,” hosted by The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore. JPW providesprofessional networking, personal growth and community engagement opportunitiesfor career-minded women.

“Listen to your inner voice,” Hurwitz told the group ofapproximately 170 women in attendance. “Listen to what is true to you, even ifothers don’t understand it. And when it comes to writing, make sure you showinstead of tell. Most people don’t do that.”

A graduate of HarvardUniversity and Harvard Law School, Hurwitz, 38, began her White House career in1998 as a college intern in Vice President Al Gore’s speechwriting office.

After graduation, she worked as a speechwriting researchassistant for former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Hurwitzsubsequently worked on a handful of national campaigns, including HillaryClinton and Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential bids.

“Being a speechwriter is mainly about channeling the voice of theperson you write for,” said Hurwitz, a native of Wayland, Mass. “In an idealspeechwriting relationship, you’re not scripting the person. Rather, you’reworking with them to hone their own language, ideas and stories.

“Empathy is a critical characteristic of a good speechwriter,” shesaid. “You need to be moved by the struggles, successes and aspirations of theAmerican people in order to tell their stories in a vivid, moving and memorableway.”

Hurwitz describes working in the Obama White House as“absolutely wonderful. The Obama White House was an incredibly diverse place,and the staff was urged to embrace and celebrate who they are.

“I have such warm memories of attending the White House Chanukahparties,” she said. “I’ll never forget the year that everyone spontaneouslybroke into [the Chanukah song] ‘Maoz Tzur,’ and Ithought to myself how my grandparents never couldhave imagined anything like this.”

During her time with the administration, Hurwitz helped craftsome of Mrs. Obama’s most memorable speeches, including her 2016 DemocraticNational Convention address featuring the now-famous slogan, “When they go low,we go high.”

“Mrs. Obama came up with that line — all I did was type it intothe speech,” said Hurwitz. “Michelle Obama knows who she is and she alwaysknows what she wants to say. The process for that speech was similar to theprocess of other speeches I worked on with her. It would always start with measking her, ‘What do you want to say?’ and she would then dictate pages ofideas, language, stories and themes for the speech. I would then shape all thelanguage she dictated to me into a draft and she would edit it, with oftenmultiple rounds of editing.”

Although she no longer works in the White House, Hurwitzcontinues to be a storyteller. About five years ago, Hurwitz – who grew up“with minimal Jewish education” — took an introduction to Judaism class thatchanged her life.

Hurwitz wrote a book about her circuitous Jewish journey titled,“Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life— in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There).” The book, published bySpiegel & Grau, is set to be released in September.

“I was blown away by what I found [in Judaism],” she said.“There is a high ethical bar and helpful guidance [in Judaism] about how to bea good person, numerous practices to foster spiritual connection and all kindsof beautiful, meaningful rituals. I couldn’t believe what I had been missing.”

At the LeadHerShip Event, Hurwitz advised her audience of women,“Carve out space for the thing you love and that lights your fire. Judaismisn’t just about me it’s about connecting to a group of people who are in someways my family.”

For information about the Rosenblatt Memorial Lecture, visit http://knesethisrael.org or call 410-263-2924.