The ancient slur made headlines in several unrelated incidents recently. The accusation has a shocking, sickening sound to Jewish ears whenever it surfaces. For two millennia it defined majority attitudes toward Jews in Christian Europe, provoking persecution and mob violence and causing incalculable Jewish suffering.
Feelings are still a bit raw.
Today, happily, the libelous charge is largely discredited. The Roman Catholic Church and most mainline Protestant denominations have repudiated it as a misreading of the events at the time. The sudden spate of sightings this spring may be coincidence. The quote appeared in a New York Times Magazine article exploring the dislocation of young basketball players who are thrust into a confusing world of wealth and fame without preparation or, it seems, guidance. Mr. Ward's Scripture sessions, the article suggested, are among the few vehicles he and some teammates have found for sorting out their world.