קרבן התמיד

(1) The commandment of the regular [sacrifices] daily: That Israel was commanded that they should sacrifice - through the servants of God, may He be blessed, who are the priests - two unblemished one-year old lambs as a burnt-offering daily, one in the morning and the second in the afternoon, as it is stated (Numbers 28:2), "Command the Children of Israel and say to them, 'My sacrifice, My bread, etc. two per day, a regular burnt-offering.'" And nonetheless, the main warning is to the court - meaning to say the sages, the decisors of the Torah in Israel, as the work of the community is incumbent upon them. And it is like they, may their memory be blessed said (Sifrei Bamidbar 142:3), "'And say to them' is a warning to the court."

(2) I have written what went up in my spirit about the simple understanding of the matter from the roots of the commandment of the sacrifices on the commandment of the Temple in the Order of Vayikchu Li Trumah (Sefer HaChinuch 95). And I will also continue according to those reasons in the explanation of the regular sacrifices, to say that we were commanded in this regular service, which is twice a day - with the rising of the sun and with its inclining towards the evening - in order that we be aroused from this action and that we place all of our hearts and all of our thoughts to cling to God, blessed be He. And we have said several times that a person is acted upon - and his nature is aroused - according to the involvement of his actions. And hence in that a man's nature is designed that he needs to prepare nourishment for himself twice [a day], morning and evening, he is commanded that he place his industry and his occupation in the occupation of the service of his Creator two times [a day] as well, that the service of the servant to himself not be more than his service to his Master. And why all of this (what is its reason)? In order to regularly arouse his spirit and his desire to remember his Creator, and through this to make his actions proper and be blessed from [God]; as He is One who desires kindness. [It is] as they, may their memory be blessed, expounded (Sifrei Bamidbar 143:3), "'A fire, of pleasing smell to the Lord' - since I said, and My will was done" - meaning to say, that the entire portion of the Higher from any sacrifice is only His desire, blessed be He, that the servant do what his Master has commanded him, in order that he be fit to merit His goodness, blessed be He.

(3) From the laws of the commandment - that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 28a) that the time of their slaughter is, of the one lamb of the morning before the rising of the sun, from when the entire face of the East is light, and once in the Second Temple, the time pushed the community and they sacrificed the regular sacrifice of the morning at four hours in the day (Mishnah Eduyot 6:1); and the time of the second lamb of the afternoon is from six and a half hours and onward until the end of the day (Pesachim 58a), but [in fact,] they would always sacrifice it at eight and a half hours and offer it at nine and a half [hours], and these two hours that they would delay it were in order that that they could sacrifice individual and community sacrifices in between, as it is forbidden to sacrifice another sacrifice after the afternoon sacrifice; [that] the process of the regular afternoon sacrifice was like the process of the regular morning sacrifice, except that the one of the morning was sacrificed in the northeastern corner of the room of the slaughterers on the second ring, and [the one] of the afternoon was in the northwestern corner on the second ring, so that it be in front of the sun; and the rest of its details - are elucidated in Tractate Tamid and in the second chapter of Yoma (see Mishneh Torah, Laws of Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings 1).

(4) And this commandment is practiced at the time of the [Temple]; and it is from the commandments that are incumbent upon the community, and especially on the priests. And if maybe, God forbid, they were negligent about it, not to sacrifice it every day, they will have violated this positive commandment. And the mistake is placed upon all of the community of Israel that know about the thing if they have the power in their hands to fix [it] from any angle. And Ramban, may his memory be blessed, itemized the two regular [sacrifices] as two [distinct] positive commandments in the tally of the commandments (Sefer HaMitzvot, at the end of s.v. veatah, eem taveen), since the commandments do not impede one another, and the time of this [one] is not the time of that [one].