Sotah 9:8-9

Sotah 9:8

If one witness, or one woman, claims to have seen the murderer and another witness, or another woman, contradicts their testimony, the calf’s neck is broken. If one witness claims to have seen the murderer and two others contradicted him, the calf’s neck is broken. If two witnesses claim to have seen the murderer and one other contradicted them, the calf’s neck is not broken.

Sotah 9:9

When murder became common, the eglah arufah ceremony was suspended. This was the time of Elazar ben Dinai, AKA Techina ben Prisha, whom they called “the son of the murderer.” When adultery became common, the sotah ceremony was suspended. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai suspended it based on Hosea 4:14, “I will not punish your daughters for acting licentiously, nor your daughters-in-law for committing adultery, because they (i.e., the men, behave likewise).” When Yosi ben Yoezer of Tzreidah and Yosi ben Yochanan of Jerusalem died, the clusters (meaning pinnacles of Torah scholarship) ceased, as per Micah 7:1, “There is no cluster to eat, nor first fruit that my soul desires.”