What's the sacrifice in Korbanot?

(1) יקוק called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying:(2) Speak to the Israelite people, and say to them: When any of you presents an offering of cattle to יקוק: You shall choose your offering from the herd or from the flock.(3) If your offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall make your offering a male without blemish. You shall bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, for acceptance in your behalf before יקוק.(4) You shall lay a hand upon the head of the burnt offering, that it may be acceptable in your behalf, in expiation for you.(5) The bull shall be slaughtered before יקוק; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall offer the blood, dashing the blood against all sides of the altar which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.(6) The burnt offering shall be flayed and cut up into sections.(7) The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and lay out wood upon the fire;(8) and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall lay out the sections, with the head and the suet, on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar.(9) Its entrails and legs shall be washed with water, and the priest shall turn the whole into smoke on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to יקוק.

And it is stated with regard to a large bull “A fire offering, an aroma pleasing" and with regard to a small bird “A fire offering, an aroma pleasing" and with regard to a meal offering: “A fire offering, an aroma pleasing" to say to you one who brings a substantial offering and one who brings a meager offering have equal merit, provided that he directs his heart toward Heaven.

(3) TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR HIM. To serve as a ransom for the punishment due him.

(2) Many precepts in our Law are the result of a similar course adopted by the same Supreme Being. It is, namely, impossible to go suddenly from one extreme to the other... The Israelites were commanded to devote themselves to His service; comp. “and to serve him with all your heart” (ibid. 11:13); “and you shall serve the Lord your God” (Exod. 23:25); “and ye shall serve him” (Deut. 13:5). But the custom which was in those days general among all men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up, consisted in sacrificing animals in those temples which contained certain images, to bow down to those images, and to burn incense before them; religious and ascetic persons were in those days the persons that were devoted to the service in the temples erected to the stars, as has been explained by us. It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God, as displayed in the whole Creation, that He did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these manners of service; for to obey such a commandment it would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present if he called us to the service of God and told us in His name, that we should not pray to Him, not fast, not seek His help in time of trouble; that we should serve Him in thought, and not by any action..

It is far more fitting to accept the reason for the offerings which scholars say, namely that since man’s deeds are accomplished through thought, speech and action, therefore G-d commanded that when man sins and brings an offering, he should lay his hands upon it in contrast to the [evil] deed [committed]. He should confess his sin verbally in contrast to his [evil] speech, and he should burn the inwards and the kidneys [of the offering] in fire because they are the instruments of thought and desire in the human being. He should burn the legs [of the offering] since they correspond to the hands and feet of a person, which do all his work. He should sprinkle the blood upon the altar, which is analogous to the blood in his body. All these acts are performed in order that when they are done, a person should realize that he has sinned against his G-d with his body and his soul, and that “his” blood should really be spilled and “his” body burned, were it not for the loving-kindness of the Creator, Who took from him a substitute and a ransom, namely this offering, so that its blood should be in place of his blood, its life in place of his life, and that the chief limbs of the offering should be in place of the chief parts of his body.

The dispute between the Rabbis and Rabbi Yehuda with regard to the times beyond which the different prayers may not be recited is rooted in a profound disagreement, also manifest in a later amoraic dispute. It was stated: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: The practice of praying three times daily is ancient, albeit not in its present form; prayers were instituted by the Patriarchs. However, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that the prayers were instituted based on the daily offerings sacrificed in the Holy Temple, and the prayers parallel the offerings, in terms of both time and characteristics.

(15) And when you lift up your hands,
I will turn My eyes away from you;
Though you pray at length,
I will not listen.
Your hands are stained with crime—(16) Wash yourselves clean;
Put your evil doings
Away from My sight.
Cease to do evil;(17) Learn to do good.
Devote yourselves to justice;
Aid the wronged.^-e
Uphold the rights of the orphan;
Defend the cause of the widow.

(4) The prayer [i.e. Amidah] is in place of the sacrifice (korban), and therefore one must be careful that it resemble the sacrifice with respect to intention, and not let another thought mix in, similar to an unrelated thought which would nullify the sacred offerings. And [prayer must be recited] standing, like the service [in the Temple]; and in a fixed place like the sacrifices, where each one had a fixed place for its slaughter and the sprinkling of its blood; and that nothing should separate between one and the wall [during prayer - see Orach Chayyim 90:21], similar to sacrifices where any interposition between it and the vessel would nullify it. And it is appropriate that one should have special nice garments for prayer, like the clothing of the kohanim, even though not everyone is able to spend the money on this; nevertheless, it is appropriate to have special pants for prayer, for the sake of cleanliness.