A calf was harnessed with a yoke for a distance of one handbreadth but performed no actual plowing. Is it still fit for the eglah ritual?
Halacha 3 rules that the yoke disqualifies whether or not the calf performed actual work; carrying the yoke even a handbreadth is sufficient to disqualify it.
Question 2
After the eglah is brought down to the river (but before decapitation), the murderer is identified. What happens?
Halacha 8 rules that if the murderer is found before decapitation, the calf is released to pasture — since the condition for the ritual (unknown killer) no longer exists.
Question 3
After the eglah is decapitated, the murderer is found. Must he still be executed?
Halacha 8 states explicitly that even when the murderer is found after the calf's decapitation, he must be executed — Deuteronomy 21:9 commands 'you shall rid yourselves of the guilt for the shedding of innocent blood.'
Question 4
A community fails to bring the eglah arufah. Ten years later, is it still obligated?
Halacha 10 rules that those who delay bringing the eglah are compelled to bring it even years later, and even though Yom Kippur has passed — the obligation does not expire.
Question 5
What type of work is permitted in the valley where the eglah was decapitated?
Halacha 9 distinguishes: the prohibition is on 'working the land itself' (like plowing and sowing); activities that do not work the land itself — combing flax, drilling stones — remain permitted.