Sarah Hurwitz

Sarah Hurwitz is an American author and speechwriter. She served as a White House speechwriter during the Obama administration, first as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and later as chief speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. Hurwitz previously worked as a speechwriter for Democratic political figures and campaigns including Tom Harkin, Wesley Clark, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton, for whom she was chief speechwriter during her 2008 presidential campaign.

Hurwitz helped write several of Michelle Obama's major addresses, including her speeches at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Democratic National Conventions, and she also worked in support of two of Obama's East Wing initiatives, Let's Move! and Joining Forces. After leaving the White House, she became a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics and wrote books focusing on Judaism, Jewish identity, and antisemitism.

Early life and education Hurwitz is from Wayland, Massachusetts. Hurwitz grew up in a culturally Jewish home and attended Hebrew school as a child. She became interested in politics after visiting Washington, D.C. on an eighth grade school trip.

Career

Campaign speechwriting Hurwitz began her career in political speechwriting as an intern in Vice President Al Gore's speechwriting office in 1998. She later worked as a speechwriter for Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and as deputy chief speechwriter for General Wesley Clark's campaign in 2003 and Senator John Kerry's campaign in 2004. During the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Hurwitz served as chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton, and she helped write Clinton's 2008 concession speech.

Barack Obama's campaign reached out to Hurwitz two days after Clinton's concession to offer her a job on the campaign. Hurwitz joined Barack Obama's 2008 general-election campaign as a senior speechwriter where her first assignment was to help write Michelle Obama's address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Obama administration From 2009 to 2017, Hurwitz served as a White House speechwriter, first as a senior speechwriter for President Obama and later as chief speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. Hurwitz helped write many of Michelle Obama's major addresses, including her speeches at the 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions. The Washington Post reported in 2016 that Hurwitz had at the time written for the Obamas for eight years and for Michelle Obama almost exclusively for nearly seven.

In addition to her speechwriting work, Hurwitz served as a senior advisor to the White House Council on Women and Girls, working on policy issues affecting them. The Forward included Hurwitz in their Forward 50 list as one of 2016's fifty most influential Jewish Americans, based on her work for the Obama White House. She later turned to writing and speaking about Judaism, Jewish identity, and antisemitism.

Hurwitz's first book, Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life — in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There), was published by Spiegel & Grau on September 3, 2019. The book, part memoir and part introduction to Jewish thought and practice, describes Hurwitz's return to Jewish study and observance as an adult.

Her second book, As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story from Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us, was published by HarperOne in 2025. In coverage of the book, JTA described Hurwitz as a liberal Zionist. As a Jew also includes a chapter that aims to counter the characterization of Zionism as colonialist and racist, while noting that Israel is not without "serious flaws."

As a Jew received favorable reviews from several Jewish and religion-focused publications. Publishers Weekly named it as one of the best religion books of 2025, describing it as both a personal work inspired by Hurwitz's adult return to Jewish faith and an analysis of the pressures shaping modern American Judaism. The Jewish Book Council praised the book and named it the winner of the "Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice" category at the 75th National Jewish Book Awards. Kirkus Reviews described it as "a spirited defense of Jewish identity" that addressed Jewish life in 21st century America. It debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list on September 25, 2025.

2025 remarks on Holocaust education and the Gaza war In November 2025, Hurwitz spoke at the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly during a plenary discussion about antisemitism and Jewish identity. |author=Hurwitz

The remarks drew criticism after clips circulated online. Critics, including Jenin Younes of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, journalist Spencer Ackerman, and Palestinian American writer Yousef Munayyer, said that Hurwitz had minimized Palestinian suffering, deflected criticism of Israel's actions in the Gaza war, and wrongly framed Holocaust education, social media, or young Jews' perceptions as the problem rather than Israel's conduct. Rabbi Sandra Lawson, a progressive American rabbi, separately criticized Hurwitz's remarks, saying that the moral lessons of the Holocaust should be understood universally rather than only in relation to Jewish suffering. In Commentary, Lahav Harkov defended Hurwitz's broader argument, saying that the reaction to her remarks illustrated the concerns about Jewish identity and antisemitism Hurwitz raised in her book As a Jew.