For the source text click/tap here: Sotah 45
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When a dead man is found between two cities, measurements are taken to ascertain which of the cities is closer to the man and the elders of that city are called upon to bring an eglah (a calf) arufah and to state that they did not play a role in this man’s death.
The Gemara explains that we do not really suspect the city elders of having killed the man, rather they are being called upon to attest to the fact that the man received an escort when he left the city.
We explore this troubling phenomenon and the way the talmud interprets it and the eglah arufah as vicarious ritual offering.