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Text Excerpt
מתני׳ תמיד נשחט בשמונה ומחצה, וקרב בתשעה ומחצה. בערבי פסחים נשחט בשבע ומחצה, וקרב בשמונה ומחצה — בין בחול בין בשבת. חל ערב פסח להיות בערב שבת, נשחט בשש ומחצה, וקרב בשבע ומחצה, והפסח אחריו.
Mishnah: The daily afternoon offering is slaughtered at 8½ hours of the day, which is 2½ hours after midday, and is sacrificed, i.e., its offering on the altar is completed, at 9½ hours of the day. On the eves of Passover, when the Paschal lamb must be offered after the daily offering, the daily offering is sacrificed earlier; it is slaughtered at 7½ hours and sacrificed at 8½ hours, whether it occurs during the week or on Shabbat. If Passover eve occurs on Friday, when the Paschal lamb must be offered even earlier to ensure that it will be roasted before the onset of Shabbat, the daily offering is slaughtered at 6½ hours and sacrificed at 7½ hours, and the Paschal lamb is offered after that.
גמ׳ מנא הני מילי?
Talmud: The Talmud asks: From where are these matters derived, i.e., that the daily afternoon offering is sacrificed between 8½ hours of the day and 9½ hours?
אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי, דאמר קרא: ״את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים״, חלקהו לבין שני ערבים: שתי שעות ומחצה לכאן, שתי שעות ומחצה לכאן, ושעה אחת לעשייתו.
R' Yehoshua ben Levi said: As the verse concerning the daily offering says: “The one lamb you should offer in the morning and the second lamb you should offer in the afternoon [bein ha’arbayim]” (Numbers 28:4). He understands this as follows: The term for afternoon in the verse is a Hebrew phrase, the literal meaning of which is “between [bein] the evenings [arbayim].” In this context, it is referring to the period lasting from when the day begins progressing toward the evening, just after midday, until sunset. Divide this period between two evenings. How? 2½ hours here constitute one evening, and 2½ hours there constitute another evening, and there is one hour in between to perform the ritual of sacrificing the daily offering. Consequently, the time of the daily offering must be during the hour that begins 2½ hours after midday and ends 2½ hours before sunset. That is the time determined in the Mishnah.