It is a positive commandment to offer two lambs as burnt-offerings every day.¹ (positive commandment 39) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 401) count this as one of the Torah's 613 mitzvot. The Ramban (at the conclusion to his Hosafos to the negative commandments) argues that they should be considered as two separate mitzvot. They are called the continuous offering. One [should be brought] in the morning and one in the afternoon as [Numbers 28:3] states: "Two each day, a continuous offering."

footnotes: ¹ Sefer HaMitzvot

When is the time at which they should be slaughtered? The morning one should be slaughtered before sunrise,² 4a). when the entire eastern horizon becomes illuminated.³ Once there was a pressing situation for the community in [the era of] the Second Temple⁴ 6:1, based on the Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 1:4), the Rambam explains that once during the Greek occupation of the Holy Land, the Temple was besieged. Each day, the priests would exchange two baskets of gold coins for two lambs. One day, however, the Greeks refused to make the exchange. The people were forlorn. Later that morning, they miraculously found two lambs in the Chamber of the Lambs and R. Yuda bar Bava ruled that the morning sacrifice could be offered if the fourth hour of the day had not passed. and they offered the daily morning sacrifice at four hours after daybreak.⁵

footnotes: ² For "the eager hurry [to perform] mitzvot" (Pesachim ³ I.e., when the rays of the sun are already visible, but the orb of the sun has not appeared. ⁴ In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Ediot ⁵ The Radbaz derives two points from the Rambam's statements: a) only in a pressing situation may the offering of the sacrifice be delayed until after daybreak; b) even in a pressing situation, the sacrifice may not be offered after four hours of the day have passed.

[The lamb for] the continuous offering of the afternoon should be slaughtered when the shadows have been extended⁶ and it is obvious to all that they have been extended.⁷ This is from six and a half hours of the day until the day's end. Every day, they would not slaughter it until eight and a half hours of the day and they would offer it at nine and a half hours. Why would they delay [its slaughter] for two hours after the beginning of the time? Because of the sacrifices of individuals and those of the community.⁸ For it is forbidden to offer any sacrifice before the continuous offering of the morning and no sacrifice is offered after the continuous sacrifice of the afternoon⁹ 4a): "The eager hurry [to perform] mitzvot." with the exception of the Paschal sacrifice. [That leniency was granted, because] it is impossible for all of Israel to offer their Paschal sacrifices in two hours.

footnotes: ⁶ At noon, the sun is directly overhead and does not cast a shadow. By 12:30, the sun will have already passed to the western portion of the sky and will thus cast a shadow to the east. ⁷ I.e., the sacrifice could have been offered directly after noon. Nevertheless, since the time of noon is not obvious to everyone, it was delayed slightly. ⁸ I.e., to allow all of the other sacrifices to be offered, as the Rambam proceeds to explain. ⁹ The Radbaz asks: Why isn't its sacrifice delayed any longer? He responds that the Sages did not desire for there to be any time pressure at all regarding its offering. Also, they wanted - at least partially - to fulfill the charge (Pesachim

The Paschal sacrifice is slaughtered only after the continuous offering of the afternoon.¹⁰ 1:4 for more details. Similarly, those individuals requiring atonement¹¹, ch. 1, this term refers to certain individuals - a zav, a zavah, a person afflicted with tzara'at, and a woman after childbirth - who are not permitted to partake of sacrifices until they offer certain sacrifices. may offer their atonement offerings after the continuous offering of the afternoon on the fourteenth [of Nisan] so that they will be ritually pure and [and able] to partake of their Paschal offerings in the evening.¹² (Pesachim 59a).

footnotes: ¹⁰ See Hilchot Korban Pesach ¹¹ As stated in Hilchot Mechusrei Kapparah ¹² This leniency is granted because a person who does not offer the Paschal sacrifices is liable for karet

When the day before Pesach falls during the week or on the Sabbath, the Afternoon Sacrifice would be slaughtered after seven and a half hours and offered after eight and a half hours so that [the people] would have time to slaughter their Paschal sacrifices.¹³ If the day before Pesach falls on Friday, [the Afternoon Sacrifice] would be slaughtered at six and a half hours, the beginning of the time allotted for it and offered at seven and a half hours, so that they would have ample time to roast [their sacrifices] before the commencement of the Sabath.¹⁴

footnotes: ¹³ For every member of the Jewish people would have to partake of a Paschal sacrifice. Thus there would be a multitude of animals to slaughter and have their blood offered. ¹⁴ At all other times, the Paschal sacrifices could be roasted at night. Hence, as long as they were slaughtered before nightfall, there was no difficulty. The roasting of the Paschal sacrifices did not, however, supersede the prohibition against cooking on the Sabbath. Hence, the slaughter had to be performed earlier so that they could be roasted on time.

Even though [no sacrificial animals] are slaughtered after the continuous offering of the afternoon,¹⁵. A printing error appears to have crept into the standard published text. any entity that is fit to be offered on the altar's pyre is offered the entire day. And the limbs of the burnt-offerings and the eimorim¹⁶ may be offered until midnight, as we explained in [Hilchot] Ma'aseh HaKorbanot.¹⁷ 4:2, this is a Rabbinic safeguard. The limbs and the eimorim - whether from the continuous offerings or from other sacrifices - that were not consumed [by the fire], may be turned over¹⁸ throughout the entire night until the morning,¹⁹ as [Leviticus 6:2] states: "The entire night until the morning."

footnotes: ¹⁵ This represents the division of the halachot in the authentic manuscripts and early printings of the Mishneh Torah ¹⁶ The fats and inner organs of the animal that are offered on the altar. ¹⁷ As stated in Hilchot Ma'aseh HaKorbanot ¹⁸ So that they will be consumed by the fires faster and more completely. ¹⁹ Although our Sages decreed that the limbs not be offered on the altar after midnight as mentioned above, if they were offered before midnight, they may be turned over the entire night.

[The offering of] the limbs of the continuous offering on the altar's pyre [at night] supersedes [the prohibitions of] ritual impurity,²⁰ but does not supersede the Sabbath [prohibitions]. Instead, all of the limbs of the continuous offerings offered on Friday are offered on the altar's pyre on Friday alone.²¹ For the initial [offering] of the continuous offering supersedes the Sabbath [prohibitions],²² but its concluding aspects²³ do not.²⁴ in the name of the Ritba). The fats of [the communal sacrifices offered on] the Sabbath are offered on a festival, at night, if the festival falls on Saturday night. [These fats] may not, however, be offered on the night of Yom Kippur [if it falls on Saturday night].²⁵ 20a). Nevertheless, it is possible for the two holy days to follow in succession. See Hilchot Eruvin 8:10. [These concepts are derived from Numbers 28:10 which] states: "The burnt-offering of a Sabbath on its Sabbath." [This excludes the offering of] a burnt-offering of a Sabbath on another Sabbath.²⁶ Nor may the burnt-offering of a weekday be offered on a festival.

footnotes: ²⁰ I.e., communal sacrifices may be offered in a state of ritual impurity. If the offering itself was offered in this manner, the limbs may be offered in this manner at night. ²¹ I.e., during the day and not during the night. ²² I.e., an animal sacrificed as a communal offering may be slaughtered and offered on the altar on the Sabbath. ²³ The offering of the limbs and fats which were not offered on the pyre on Friday. ²⁴ If there was no opportunity to offer the fats and the limbs on Friday, they should be brought up to the top of the altar on Friday night, but not offered on the pyre. On the top of the altar, they are not disqualified because of the passage of the night and they should be offered on Saturday night (Kessef Mishneh ²⁵ According to the fixed calendar followed at present, Yom Kippur can never fall on a Saturday night. Moreover, even when the new moon was sanctified based on the testimony of witnesses, an effort was made not to have Yom Kippur fall directly after the Sabbath (Rosh HaShanah ²⁶ And Yom Kippur is also called "a Sabbath."

When the fourteenth [of Nisan] falls on Sabbath, the fats of the Paschal sacrifice²⁷ may be offered on the night of the festival,²⁸ for they are considered as the fats of the Sabbath.²⁹

footnotes: ²⁷ Which is offered on the Sabbath. ²⁸ I.e., on Saturday night which is the first night of the festival. ²⁹ I.e., even though they were not offered because of the Sabbath, since their blood was offered on the Sabbath, the offering of their fats supersedes the festival prohibitions (Radbaz).

There never should be less than six lambs that have been inspected³⁰ 2:5)]. in the Chamber of the Lambs.³¹ 5:10). They should be prepared four days before their sacrifice.³²), the Rambam writes that the source for this practice was the Paschal sacrifice brought by the Jews in Egypt. They were commanded to take the lambs four days before they were offered. Even though they would be inspected beforehand, they would not slaughter the continuous offering until they inspect it again, before its slaughter by the light of the torches.³³ It was given water to drink from a golden cup³⁴ 3:4)]. so that it would be easier to skin.³⁵ 5:6). Afterwards, he emended that text to include the rationale mentioned here (Rav Kappach's notes to that mishnah).

footnotes: ³⁰ To make sure that they are free of physical blemishes [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Arachin ³¹ This was one of the sub-chambers in the Chamber of the Hearth (Hilchot Beit HaBechirah ³² In his Commentary to the Mishnah (loc. cit. ³³ The torches were necessary, because the offering was slaughtered before daybreak and more light was necessary for a careful inspection. ³⁴ This was a sign of the wealth and prosperity of the Jewish people, as appropriate for the Temple [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Tamid ³⁵ The commentaries note that the rationale the Rambam gives here is different from that which he initially gave in his Commentary to the Mishnah (Beitzah

The continuous offering of the afternoon is offered in the same manner as the continuous offering of the morning. Everything follows the regimen for the offering of the burnt offering, as written in [Hilchot] Ma'aseh HaKorbanot.³⁶ The lamb was not bound before its slaughter so as not to copy the practice of the heretics.³⁷ 31b, states that this refers to pagan idolaters who would bind all four feet of their sacrifices. Instead, they would hold its forefeet and its hindfeet by hand.³⁸ 31b states that the sacrifice would be bound like the binding of Isaac the son of Abraham. Although some commentaries explain that this means that one of the animals forefeet and one of its hindfeet would be bound, the Rambam does not accept that interpretation and maintains that none of the legs were bound. the Tosafot Yom Tov (Tamid 4:1) brings support for this interpretation, noting that our Sages state that the priest who would offer the limbs on the altar would hold them during the slaughter. Thus each of the limbs was held by a different priest. It would be held in the following manner: Its head would be to the south and its face to the west.³⁹

footnotes: ³⁶ Chapters 6 and 9. ³⁷ Rashi, Tamid ³⁸ Tamid ³⁹ In this way, if it defecated, its rear would not be facing the altar or the Temple Building.

The continuous offering of the morning would be slaughtered in the northwest corner of the butchering area,⁴⁰ 5:13-14. on the second ring,⁴¹:14; the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Tamid 4:1). Others maintain that the animal's head was inserted into the rings. and that of the afternoon would be slaughtered in the northeast corner on the second ring. [In this way,] they would be opposite the sun.⁴² The Received Tradition states that [these sacrificial animals] should be slaughtered opposite the sun.

footnotes: ⁴⁰ The area on the northern side of the Temple Courtyard where the sacrificial animals were slaughtered and cut up. See Hilchot Beit HaBechirah ⁴¹ There were rings implanted into the floor of the Temple Courtyard into which were inserted the legs of the sacrificial animals to hold them in place during the slaughter. See ibid. ⁴² The sun rises in the east. Hence if the sacrifice was slaughtered on the eastern corner in the morning, it is possible that the wall of the Temple Courtyard would block its rays. Conversely, since it sets in the west, the afternoon sacrifice was slaughtered in the east so that the sun's rays would not be blocked.

If they erred and inadvertently - or even intentionally - failed to offer the continuous offering of the morning, that of the afternoon should be offered. When does the above apply? After the altar has been dedicated. If, however, it is a new altar on which no sacrifices have been offered, the continuous offering of the afternoon should not be offered on it first. For the altar for burnt-offerings should be dedicated solely by [sacrificing] the continuous offering of the morning.⁴³

footnotes: ⁴³ Note the contrast to the Golden Altar, as stated in Chapter 3, Halachah 1.