Reclaiming Our Story: Sarah Hurwitz on Jewish Identity, Courage, and Lifelong Learning
Posted on 10/31/2025 @ 06:00 AM
By Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar CAJE's Executive Director
This past Monday, nearly 350 people (including 27 Confirmation students) gathered at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach for an evening with Sarah Hurwitz — former White House speechwriter for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and author of the bestselling books Here All Along and As A Jew.
Through humor, honesty, and depth, Hurwitz invited the audience to rediscover the richness of Judaism, explore their own Jewish identities, and embrace lifelong learning.
The event, presented by CAJE’s Adult Learning Department as part of its new “SAGES in the 305” series, was underwritten by the Ganz Family Foundation in loving memory of Charles Ganz z”l.
Rediscovering Jewish Identity
Sarah Hurwitz began her talk with a confession that drew laughter and nods of recognition: she grew up thinking Judaism was “two really boring holidays, one medium boring one, and one great one — Hanukkah.”
For most of her life, she revealed, being Jewish meant cultural touchpoints — Seinfeld jokes and bagels — but little connection to Judaism’s depth and wisdom.
“There’s so much wisdom about how to be a good person, how to live a worthy life,” she shared. “None of which I saw during those two high holiday services I sat through and didn’t understand.”
Her journey, she explained, began when she realized how much of her worldview had been shaped by Christian ideas presented as universal truths.
“I began to realize how soaked in Christianity I — and I think many Jews — are, and how it prevents us from engaging in Judaism.”
Watch the full event recording here:
YouTube https://youtu.be/iEq45OreCtI?si=cN7sCqgFHVD88PxO
Reclaiming a Colonized Identity
In writing her book As a Jew, Hurwitz said she sought to answer one haunting question: “Why was I always trying to diminish my own identity?”
Through study, she came to understand that centuries of antisemitism and assimilation had deeply shaped the modern Jewish psyche.
“My Jewish identity had been colonized by millennia of antisemitism and 200 years of Jews understandably trying to erase ourselves so we could fit in.”
She spoke compassionately about generations of Jews who changed their names, softened their accents, or “tried to be less ‘Jewy’” to survive and succeed.
“I have tremendous compassion for my ancestors who were just trying to get opportunities I take for granted — and zero compassion for the people who forced them to do that.”
Understanding Antisemitism in Our Time
Hurwitz challenged the audience to see antisemitism not merely as individual prejudice but as a recurring political ideology.
She explained, “It’s the idea that we — the majority — are engaged in a grand moral project, and the only thing stopping us are the Jews.”
Tracing a pattern from ancient Rome to modern America, she showed how Jews have long been scapegoated as obstacles to others’ redemption — whether religious, nationalist, or ideological.
“The structure of antisemitism hasn’t changed,” she declared. “It’s this idea of powerful, depraved elites in conspiracy — and it exists across the spectrum, right and left.”
Hurwitz was equally candid about how these old tropes have resurfaced on college campuses and social media.
“When the word ‘Zionist’ is used as a slur or an insult, when people throw around words like ‘genocide’ as settled facts rather than accusations, it’s paving the same neural groove that’s existed for centuries.”
Her advice to combat this rising tide was clear and practical: education. “If we’re going to fight antisemitism at all,” she argued, “it’s going to be through Jewish education — especially adult education.”
Israel and the Meaning of Zionism
Hurwitz spoke with both passion and nuance about Israel.
“I am a Zionist,” she stated plainly. “That means I believe Jews have the same right to national self-determination in Israel as Latvians do in Latvia and Japanese people do in Japan.”
She noted that her conviction is rooted not only in ideology, but in also history: “I saw what happened when Jews had no state. Millions of slaughtered Jews.”
At the same time, she acknowledged her deep discomfort with the current Israeli government. “I criticize Israel all day long,” she declared. “Loving Israel doesn’t mean ignoring its flaws; it means caring enough to engage honestly.”
She urged listeners not to fall into what she called the “category error” of seeing Judaism only as a religion.
“That Jew in Israel isn’t my co-religionist,” she noted. “They’re my family.”
With only 16 million Jews in the world, she reminded the audience, “if we’re not looking out for each other, it’s not going to go well for us.”
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Living the Wisdom — Mitzvot and Jewish Ethics
Hurwitz also reflected on how Jewish practice grounds her daily life.
“I didn’t even know there were things to study in Judaism growing up,” she said with a smile. “Now it’s become central to my life.”
She described mitzvot as both practical and profound — small acts that shape moral vision.
“Jewish law tries to inculcate exquisite sensitivity to the needs and dignity of every person you see,” she explained.
“It’s like going to the eye doctor — clicking the machine finer and finer until you can see clearly.”
For her, even simple practices — avoiding pork and shrimp, lighting Shabbat candles, giving tzedakah — are reminders that “to be a Jew is to be different, and to be different is sometimes to be uncomfortable.”
The Call to Learn, Question, and Teach
Hurwitz closed with a call for curiosity and courage.
“If someone tells you Judaism is a vengeful religion, or Israel is a genocidal state, what will you say if you don’t know your own story?”
Her challenge was not about memorizing talking points but building a “thick, rich, profound Jewish identity filled with content.”
Learning, she said, is the antidote to both ignorance and shame.
And she reminded listeners that learning about Judaism has to begin at home.
“No Hebrew school teacher can make your kid Jewish in two hours a week. We have to grow up. We have to learn.”
She left the audience with a message that captured the spirit of the evening: “If people don’t want you in their club, start your own club — and make it welcoming to everyone who shares your values.”
Her words reminded listeners that Jewish learning is not only a defense against hate, but a pathway to joy, belonging, and purpose.
Continue the Journey
Sarah Hurwitz’s talk was more than a lecture — it was an invitation.
Her story of rediscovery challenged everyone in the room to deepen their connection to Judaism, to study its texts, and to live its values. As she noted, “We have wisdom to offer, not just to ourselves, but to the world.”
CAJE invites you to continue that journey. Explore Jewish learning, challenge assumptions, and rediscover meaning through CAJE’s Adult Learning programs and the “SAGES in the 305” lecture series.
Keep opening the treasure chest of Jewish wisdom and learn more by visiting https://caje-miami.org/adults.
