The elderly man was hunched over, walking slowly with the help of a cane toward a small stage where a table, chair and microphone awaited him. The medium-size conference hall was utterly silent despite being packed with people, most of whom knew him well, some of them wondering, perhaps, whether he would make it up the steps to the stage. I was one of those people, sitting in the back. I had waited years for this moment — the chance to be in Jerusalem at the Shalom Hartman Institute and listen to the words of its founder, Rabbi David Hartman.

The last name I expected to come up at our Shabbat table last week was Jon Stewart. I was hosting a serious, soft-spoken public intellectual from Israel, Bambi Sheleg — who was in town on a speaking tour — and her words to my Shabbat guests were anything but funny and ironic.

What is it about the word “spiritual” that throws so many people off? Why is it that when I invite people to a Torah salon, I get a great reaction, but when I invite the same people to a “spiritual” salon that includes meditation, I get a rolling of the eyes? Is it just that the notion of spirituality is too nebulous to be taken seriously?

The rabbi was screaming to the writer on the other end of the line: “How dare you put the Reform and Conservatives in the same sentence as the Orthodox?

What is it about Evangelical Christians and their support for Israel that really gets to me? I understand what makes some Jews — especially liberal Jews — nervous about this group: their conservative values (on issues such as abortion and separation of church and state); an uncompromising stance on the Middle East peace process; the theological slant to their support for Israel; and a propensity among some of them to proselytize to Jews.

Where has paper gone? When’s the last time you got your news on paper rather than on a computer screen? I marvel at the ease of use of my iPad; I bless Steve Jobs whenever I access any of the hundreds of books I “carry” on my magic tablet, or connect instantly to one of my favorite sites, or check my e-mails at any time or do research on absolutely any subject that might move me.

One question I’m often asked is, “How do you come up with different stuff every week? Don’t you ever run out of material?” In response, I usually just shrug and make a slight grimace, as if to say, “Yeah, it ain’t easy.” But the truth is, my problem is the exact opposite: I usually have too many stories to choose from. For every one you see, I have to pass on several others — often really good ones. This is the curse and delight of covering the Jewish world: There are too many stories!

The political world is all atwitter over the Tea Party movement that is sweeping America. Everywhere you turn, from Alaska to Delaware, it seems another Tea Party candidate is on the rise. What does this mean? So far, most of the analyses have been political: Will the uncompromising Tea Partyers help or hinder the GOP’s chances to retake Congress in the fall? Are they revitalizing or fatally dividing the Republican Party? Can their radicalism end up rescuing the faltering Democrats? And so on.

Some Jews just don’t follow rules. Rosh Hashanah is a time for self-reflection and deep humility —a time when we are supposed to look at what we did wrong, not what others did wrong — but on the first Day of Judgment, my lunchtime crowd followed another script.