The Notre Dame College 2019 Abrahamic Distinguished Lecturer Sarah Hurwitz, who served nearly a decade as a White House speechwriter, rediscovered the religious tradition of her childhood in searching for answers to life questions following significant changes in her career.
Hurwitz, who from 2009 to 2017 served as a speechwriter first for President Barack Obama and then for First Lady Michelle Obama, said during the Notre Dame Abrahamic Center Distinguished Lecture in November that she had been “totally disengaged from religion” for years but decided to attend a retreat on Judaism as she considered her future. During that class, Hurwitz and members discussed what it means to be a worthy person, how to live a good life and what happens after someone dies.
“Nobody talks about those things in daily life. You’re not necessarily asking those bigger questions at work or in the grind of a political campaign,” Hurwitz said. “Here was the space I found we were asking these questions.”
Spiritual Connection
Hurwitz told the audience of more than 500 students, faculty and staff and community members in Regina Auditorium on the College campus that she also found, during times of silent reflection at the retreat, that she was overwhelmed with a feeling of God’s love, a “sense of connection with the divine” that she said she realized has been with her all along. She just was not attuned to it.
“I think it’s really important to have a deep spiritual practice where … you get really still with self and whatever higher power you connect with because I think you can get really lost … when you don’t have that, the time and sense of distance and quiet,” she said.
Finding time to reflect on the omnipresent power of God’s love was a main message of her presentation, which was conducted as a round table discussion and is the focus of her new book “Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality and a Deeper Connection to Life—in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There), which was published in September 2019.
Hurwitz answered questions from Sr. Carol Ziegler, SND, Ph.D., chief mission officer and executive director of the Abrahamic Center at the College, and RoNeil Reynolds, who graduated from Notre Dame in 2018 with a degree in marketing and works at the College, during the formal presentation. She spoke with students in the College’s campus ministry office prior to the lecture and met with audience members individually after the discussion to sign copies of her book.
Religious Virtues
Hurwitz said she was enrolled in Hebrew school as a youth, attended synagogue on occasion and celebrated her Jewish coming of age bat mitzvah but went into the Judaism retreat “as an atheist.”
She has since rediscovered her faith, Judaism, which along with Christianity and Islam are considered the three monotheistic traditions of Abraham. Notre Dame’s Abrahamic Center develops educational programs for the College and the Greater Cleveland community that foster mutual respect among all peoples and celebrate religious, racial and cultural diversity.
“I do think religion when done well, when done in a loving, honest, smart thoughtful way that truly captures the embodied heart of these faiths, I think is wonderful,” Hurwitz said. “Unfortunately, it’s not always done well, but it’s heartening to come to places like this where it’s being done beautifully and in a really inspiring and moving way.”
The Notre Dame center honors Abraham’s status as patriarch of the monotheistic traditions and as a paragon of hospitality and welcoming the “Other” and a prophet of social justice and peace.
Hurwitz said the religious virtues of Judaism are similar to those of other faith traditions.
“The core values of any of the major world traditions are the same. They are respect for the dignity of every human being. They are honesty. They are kindness. They are care for the vulnerable,” she said. “We use different language. We do it different ways, but these are basically the same core values.”
Moral Responsibility
Hurwitz said her personal core values include a “fundamental sense of presence,” which she explains is a time of quiet reflection, “getting still with “God, the universe, the divine, whatever words that you or your tradition use,” as well as compassion and truthfulness.
She commits to honesty and kindness in her speechwriting career and advised students interested in a similar profession to avoid writing for people they disagree with but to realize they might disagree with how someone wants to say something.
“I write speeches because I have certain beliefs and certain values and I’m only going to write for someone who is fighting for those beliefs and values because the truth is, you are morally responsible for the work that you do,” Hurwitz said. “If I am working for someone who I think is doing harmful, cruel, bigoted things in the world, I’m responsible for that. I am assisting that, and it’s very important to me that I work for someone who shares my values and beliefs.”
In her study of Judaism, Hurwitz said she finds guidance on avoiding gossip and balancing being truthful with being helpful and avoiding gossip. The tradition also emphasizes personal deeds and responsibility, according to the speaker.
“We understand our work in the world is to be partners with the divine. We understand we can’t just pray for things or ask for things. We actually have to make those things come true. There is a real emphasis on human responsibility and human action in Judaism,” she said.
Authentic Communication
During the Abrahamic Lecture, Hurwitz also answered questions from the audience, including Notre Dame students who asked her about her own college and career experiences.
Hurwitz began working as a political campaign writer through connections she made in law school. Hurwitz is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and is currently a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. She worked as an intern with Vice President Al Gore while an undergraduate.
She said her first two jobs, as speechwriters for a lieutenant governor in Maryland and a U.S. senator from Iowa, both only lasted nine months. Then she wrote for three election campaigns; all three candidates lost.
“I think it’s important to understand [for] people who have interesting careers, it is not a linear, orderly series of successes. It’s actually a lot of failure, a lot of struggle, a lot of real doubt and insecurity,” Hurwitz said.
She also provided her three tips for effective, authentic communication in daily life as well as public speaking and speech writing. She suggests talking “in your own voice” without clichés, showing by describing images rather than just using words and speaking truth “within appropriate limits.”
“[Consider] the deepest most helpful most important truth that I can tell at this particular moment,” she said. “Acknowledge what is true because audiences can tell. They can really tell if you’re faking it.”
November 2019
About Notre Dame College
For almost a century, Notre Dame College has educated a diverse population in the liberal arts for personal, professional and global responsibility. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College has grown strategically to keep pace with the rapidly changing needs of students and the dramatic changes in higher education. But it has never lost sight of its emphasis on teaching students not only how to make a good living but also how to live a good life.
Today, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master’s degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. Notre Dame College offers NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic programs for men and women and is located in a picturesque residential neighborhood just 25 minutes from the heart of Cleveland. Hallmarks of the Notre Dame experience include stimulating academics, personalized attention of dedicated faculty and staff, and small class sizes.