Hurwitz was born in South Africa. In 1989, Hurwitz moved with her family to Boca Raton, Florida, when she was in the eighth grade. She is married to Joshua Abraham and lives in the Riverdale neighborhood of New York City with their four sons. Hurwitz graduated from Barnard College in New York City with a Bachelor of Arts. She was a student at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Talpiot, Israel, a post-high school religious seminary, not degree-granting. She went to the Drisha Institute in New York City as part of Drisha's three-year . Drisha is a women's religious studies institution. She has a certificate from Drisha. Hurwitz has a rabbinic degree issued by Rabbi Avi Weiss in a private 5-year study program;
Controversy regarding honorific Rabba
In June 2009, Weiss ordained Sara Hurwitz with the title "maharat" rather than "Rabbi". In February 2010, Weiss announced that he was changing Maharat to a more familiar-sounding title "Rabba". The goal of this shift was to clarify Hurwitz's position as a full member of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale rabbinic staff. The change was criticised by both Agudath Yisrael and the Rabbinical Council of America, who called the move "beyond the pale of Orthodox Judaism". Weiss announced amidst criticism that the term "Rabba" would not be used anymore for his future students. Nevertheless, in 2015, Yaffa Epstein was ordained as Rabba by the Yeshivat Maharat, which Weiss founded. The same year Lila Kagedan was ordained as Rabbi by that same organization, making her their first graduate to take the title Rabbi. Hurwitz continues to use the title Rabba and is considered by some to be the first female Orthodox rabbi.
Hurwitz is featured in Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance's Mission Statement YouTube video uploaded on November 29 of 2011. She is featured saying, "I fell in love. I felt like I was at home. I felt like I was in a community surrounded by like minded people who were passionate about Judaism, passionate about being religious and Orthodox and halacha—but were interested in creating ways for women to have a voice… JOFA is trying to shape the young minds of children, to a gender sensitive curriculum that I worked on many years ago… People in my age range and younger than me are afraid of the word feminism and I get that question all the time, ‘Are you a feminist?’ and my response is, if feminism means creating a more cohesive and inclusive community, then absolutely, I’m a feminist."
Yeshivat Maharat's Semikha Ceremony
On June 2, 2016, Hurwitz delivered the "A Message from the Dean" at Yeshivat Maharat's Semikha Ceremony, hosted at Ramaz Lower School in which she applauds "the loud voices of those who hired our graduates as spiritual leaders, who support our graduates in fulfilling their dreams of serving the Jewish people as Orthodox clergy" and expresses her belief that the graduates: Hadas Fruchter, Ramie Smith, and Alissa Thomas-Newborn, "embody the ethic of optimism."
Awards
In 2013, Hurwitz was awarded the Hadassah Foundation Bernice S. Tannenbaum prize. In 2014, Hurwitz received the annual Myrtle Wreath Award from the Southern New Jersey Region of Hadassah. In 2016, Hurwitz was the Trailblazer Award Recipient at UJA Federation of New York. Hurwitz was named as one of Jewish Week's 36 Under 36, the Forward50 most influential Jewish leaders, and Newsweeks 50 most influential rabbis.
