21st Century American Women

"“Everyone's like, ‘Oh, you're on a spiritual journey.’ I was not. It could have been a karate class or ceramics class,” “This was 4,000 years of wisdom on the human condition. What it means to be a good person, what it means to live a worthy life, what it means to find profound spiritual connection. I just felt like, ‘where has this been all my life?’”"

"“[The] kind that says, ‘Look, we're not going to hurt Jews. We're not going to kill Jews. We just ask that Jews kind of change themselves to fit whatever we find acceptable,'”"

"“It’s just been a tremendously hard week,” Hurwitz said. “I think [of] so many Jews in America, so many friends and family members in Israel, and it’s just … really devastating and wrenching."

"And then I got hired on the Obama campaign and he won, which was a mind blowing new experience for me … And I got to go to the White House,”"

"You’re [the First Lady] there really to have a conversation with America, and to focus on issues being paramount,” Hurwtiz said. “I think Mrs. Obama’s [style] was also just much more operational, much more emotional. And that’s the kind of speaker and writer I am.”"

"“There were lots of intro ‘nuts and bolts books,’ which were fine,” Hurwitz said. “There were lots of very boring, esoteric academic books, which were less fine, and there was just nothing that spoke to someone like me who was like, ‘alright, I want the deepest, most transformational, most life changing wisdom, and I also need the basics’ and so I just thought maybe I can write a book like that.”"

"“When I was writing speeches for [Michelle] Obama, we were writing partners, right? It wasn’t me alone,” Hurwitz said. “She was giving me pretty much all the ideas … and suddenly writing a book — I was like, ‘Wow, just me’… It was very lonely.”"

"So when you have a Jewish law that says, if you loaned money to someone who was financially struggling, and you happen to see them coming down the street toward you, you should actually try not to run into them,” Hurwitz said. “Because you know what, if you know they’re still struggling, if they can’t pay you back? You’re gonna embarrass them, right?”"

"And so I think just getting used to beginning to understand how being a minority in a majority culture affects how they see themselves,” Hurwitz said about the purpose of her next book. “And how they see the traditions, and how we can begin to kind of peel away those layers and really engage authentically with our tradition in Jewish terms.”"

"“Speech writing is kind of a weird job,” Hurwitz said. “Right? You want to be a lawyer, you go to law school. You want to be a doctor, you go to med school. How do you get to be a speech writer? The answer for me was actually a lot of failure.”"

"“I made kind of an unusual White House career move: I went from the West Wing –– writing for the President –– to the East Wing –– writing for the first lady,” Hurwitz said. “I knew that I was a better fit for her voice. I just had a better feel for her. I was more interested in the subject she was talking about.”"

"“I think you can make arguments on all sides of the political spectrum using Jewish texts,” Hurwitz said. “I don’t think there is any one authentic Jewish position on immigration, poverty or healthcare. Conservatives can use the Torah and Jewish law, liberals can use Torah and Jewish law.”"

"“So often when people are preparing something they want to speak about, they want to know, ‘what can make me sound smart, or powerful, or funny? What does my audience want to hear?’” Hurwitz said. “These are all fine questions, but they should be your second or third question. Your first question should really be, ‘what is the deepest, most important, most helpful truth that I can tell?’”"

"“I don’t think I’m the only Jew who has viewed Judaism as if it were a distant relative whom I loved in a vague familial way and was required to see a few times a year but had no desire to get to know further,”"

"“What never fails to move and inspire me is her unshakable sense of right and wrong,” speechwriter Hurwitz says of her boss. “She has such a strong moral core and such a clear set of values, and she’s expressed that in pretty much every speech she’s given.”"

"“She was a proud Roosevelt Democrat, and as a young woman, she dreamed of going to law school and having a career in politics – but women didn’t really have those kinds of opportunities back then,”"

"“It never ceases to amaze me that just two generations later, I have walked through the Northwest Gate of the White House every day for the past eight years to get to work.”"

"“I start by talking with her, and she’ll lay out the points she wants to make. We work together during the editing process until it’s precisely what she wants to say,”"

"“Everyone there seemed to know each other from Jewish summer camp and be in on some inside joke to which I was not privy, and I couldn’t follow any of the prayers or rituals,”"

"“I signed up less to fulfill some existential longing and more to fill a couple of hours on a Wednesday night that would otherwise have been spent feeling lonely in my apartment,” she notes in “Here All Along.”"

"I fell in love with the texts,” Hurwitz told J. in a recent interview, explaining how a spark had been ignited. Her days of “pediatric Judaism”"

"“If someone has something of value” to add to her understanding, Hurwitz said, their religious or political affiliation matters little to her. She references scores of Jewish thought leaders throughout “Here All Along” as she charts her religious and spiritual journey."

"“It is very much a spiritual practice for me. A lot of joy has come from the basics,” she said. When she understands what a prayer means,"

"“The belief that every single one of us is created in the image of God has been cited as the defining Jewish idea,”"

"The most important lesson I’ve learned about speechwriting is very simple: Say something true. When people are thinking about giving a speech, they’re often thinking, “What will make me sound smart or interesting or witty or powerful?” Or they’re thinking, “What does the audience want to hear?” Those really shouldn’t be your first and most foundational questions. Your first question should be, “What is the deepest and most important truth that I can tell at this moment?” Whether you were giving a speech to 1,000 people or talking to your board or leading an informal meeting, it’s really important to say something that is clearly and glaringly true. I think that it makes people trust you. It makes them respect you. It shows your authenticity. I think it makes you credible and it’s a really good way to start. I’d say it’s also a good way to continue and end a speech."

"The defining truth about working with the first lady is this,”“She always knows what she wants to say—period.”“She has an unwavering sense of who she is and exactly what points she wants to make.”"

"“Being a really proud, open Jew at a time like this is incredibly important,” Hurwitz told The Daily Cardinal. “I'm really grateful to have the chance to be a proud, open public Jew on campuses and to hopefully inspire Jewish students and all students to really appreciate [their] Jewish classmates and to appreciate [the] Jewish tradition.”"

"“It’s really a pleasure to come here and to be able to share that mission, that volume (and) to share what it is that is so meaningful about those 4,000 years of wisdom in the Jewish tradition and how it’s affected my career and my life,”"

"Michelle Obama had “high technical standards” for her work and frequently adjusted her speeches to insert her own voice,"

"“thumb|Slik skrev hun Michelle Obamas taler med Sarah Hurwitz moderator Hans Olav BrennerI wrote (Obama’s) first college graduation speech, which was at Arizona State University,” Hurwitz said. “In 2009, our economy was crashing … and he was kind of busy. We could get a meeting with him, but he was really distracted.”"

"A lot has happened very quickly to bring us to this unique moment. It was barely a week ago when, in the dead of night, President Putin launched a full-scale invasion of our fellow UN Member State at the very moment – at the very moment – the Security Council was holding an urgent meeting attempting to foster diplomacy and de-escalation. As the Security Council discussed peace, Putin declared war. Ukraine has defended itself with great courage and vigor. As President Biden said in his State of the Union address last night, President Putin “met a wall of strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.” But the brazen and indiscriminate nature of Russia’s attacks has had devastating, horrific consequences for the entire country. Russia has bombed residential apartment buildings. It has bombed sacred burial grounds. It has shelled kindergartens and orphanages and hospitals. Russia has spurred mass hunger and caused so many to flee their homes – the latest UN estimates are marching toward a million people."

"Now, at more than any other point in recent history, the United Nations is being challenged. If the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war, it is to condemn war, to stop war. That is our job here today. It is the job you were sent here to do – not just by your capitals, but by all of humanity."

"This is an extraordinary moment. For the first time in 40 years, the Security Council has convened an Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly. Forty years. Most of the men and women fighting in Ukraine were not even born the last time the United Nations came together in this way to unite for peace. And I would venture, that many of the people in this room were not born when that happened. But a few of the eldest Ukrainians and Russians might recall a moment like this. A moment when one aggressive European nation invaded another, without provocation, to claim the territory of its neighbor. A moment when a European dictator declared he would return his empire to its former glory. An invasion that caused a war so horrific that it spurred this organization into existence."

"Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to the noble mission of this institution: Today, we call on Russia to stop its unprovoked, unjustified, unconscionable war. We call on Russia to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We call on another neighbor of Ukraine, Belarus, who you just heard from, to stop supporting the war and stop allowing its territory to be used to facilitate this aggression. And today, we stand together in holding Russia accountable for its violations of international law, and to address the horrific human rights and humanitarian crisis unfolding before our very eyes."

"The Russian people are themselves asking how many lives Putin will sacrifice for his cynical ambitions. And they are appalled at the answer. To the Russian protesters, I say thank you – thank you – for your bravery. To the Russian soldiers sent to the front lines of an unjust, unnecessary war, I say: your leaders are lying to you. Do not commit war crimes. Do everything you can to put down your weapons and leave Ukraine. The truth is that this war was one man’s choice and one man alone: President Putin. It was his choice to force hundreds of thousands of people to stuff their lives into backpacks and flee the country. To send newborn babies into makeshift bomb shelters. To make children with cancer huddle in hospital basements, interrupting their treatment, essentially sentencing them to death. Those were President Putin’s choices. Now it’s time for us to make ours."

"People across the world have already united together in exactly the way this General Assembly must do today. Protests and vigils against Russia’s war, and in solidarity with Ukraine, marked with blue and yellow, have sprung up across the globe. These are protests for peace. From Bangkok to Budapest. From Berlin to Buenos Aires. From Sydney to Seoul. From Calgary to Cape Town. And even in Moscow and Minsk. People everywhere are standing up to call for President Putin to stop this attack."

"In our travels, we have come across many equations — math for understanding the universe, for making music, for mapping stars, and also for tipping, which is important. Here is our favorite equation: Us plus Them equals All of Us. It is very simple math. Try it sometime. You probably won’t even need a pencil."

"I was pretty sure you’d be weird. But now that I’ve met you, I can honestly say you’re even weirder."

"My dad was a Presbyterian minister. Yes, I am one of those dreaded P.K.s — Preacher's Kids. Be afraid. Be very afraid…"

"These are hard times. The world hurts. We live in fear and forget to walk with hope. But hope has not forgotten you. So ask it to dinner. It's probably hungry and would appreciate the invitation."

"My favorite word is "redemption." I like both its meaning and the sound. My least favorite word is "maybe." "Maybe" is almost always a "no" drawn out in cruel fashion."

"I have an artificial left eye. I lost my real eye in a car accident when I was eighteen. In fact, I had to have my entire face rebuilt because I smashed it up pretty good. It took six years and thirteen surgeries. However, I did have the pleasure of freezing a plastic eyeball in an ice cube, putting it in a friend's drink, ("Eyeball in your highball?") and watching him freak completely. Okay, so maybe that's not going down on my good karma record. But it sure was fun."

"I'm related to Davy Crockett on my mom's side. Honest."

"People always think they know other people, but they don’t. Not really. I mean, maybe they know things about them, like they won’t eat doughnuts or they like action movies or whatever. But they don’t know what their friends do in their rooms alone at night or what happened to them when they were kids or if they feel fucked up and sad for no reason at all."

"I'm one of those people who has to write. If I don't write, I feel itchy and depressed and cranky. So everybody's glad when I write and stop complaining already."

"You’ve been assigned an identity since birth. Then you spend the rest of your life walking around in it to see if it really fits. You try on all these different selves and abandon just as many. But really it’s about dismantling all that false armor, getting down to what’s real."

"“Oh, hello," Dr. M says, shaking Balder's hand. "Wonderful costume. I'm a bit of a role player myself on the weekends. Tell me, where did you get the helmet?" "It was forged in the North, blessed by the hands of Odin, given to me by my mother, Frigg," Balder answers. "Lovely. I got mine on the Internet.”"

"Balder holds up a completely blank rune. Wyrd. The beginning and the end. Fate. I don't know what that means, but it's not doing anything to uncreep me."

"The dark does not weep for itself because there is no light. Rather, it accepts that it is the dark. It is said that even the gods must die." He winks. "But not without one hell of a fight.”"

"Marisol does a silly dance with Balder and the screw, one in each hand, so that nobody gets the idea that she takes tins — or anything else, for that matter — seriously. And just like that, something in the cosmos shifts. A butterfly flaps its wings in South America. Snow falls in Chicago. You give an idiot a stupid magic screw and it turns out to be a necessary part after all."