Rabbi Samuel the Son of Nahman Stated This Number Corresponds

May our master teach us: How many blessings does a person pray each day? Thus our Rabbis taught: Each day a person prays eighteen [blessings]. And why eighteen? Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: Corresponding to the eighteen times that the Patriarchs are mentioned together in the Torah. The first of them: "And God will surely remember you and bring you up out of this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Genesis 50:24); and the last: "And the LORD said to me: This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Deuteronomy 34:4). And if a person should say to you, behold, they are nineteen, for so it is written: "The God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, etc." (Genesis 28:13-14), say to him: This one is not counted in the tally, for Jacob is not counted together with them. And Rabbi Yochanan said: Corresponding to the eighteen commands concerning the Tabernacle that are at the end of the book of "And these are the names [Exodus]," namely "as the LORD commanded Moses," eighteen times. And Rabbi Simon said: Corresponding to the eighteen vertebrae that are in the spine, for when a person prays and bows, he must bow until all the vertebrae of the spine crack apart, as it is said: "All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like You?" (Psalms 35:10). And Rabbi Shimon said: Corresponding to the eighteen psalms from the beginning of the book of Psalms until "May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble" (Psalms 20:1), to say: May you be answered in your prayer; therefore it is said, "May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble," and therefore it is said at the end of the eighteen psalms, "May the LORD answer you." Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Corresponding to the eighteen mentions of the divine Name that David uttered in "Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty" (Psalms 29:1). And why do they pray twenty-four blessings on fast days? Corresponding to the twenty-four songs of praise that Solomon uttered at the time he brought the Ark into the Holy of Holies during his fast. And why do they pray nine blessings on Rosh Hashanah? Rava bar Chanina said: Corresponding to the nine mentions of the divine Name that Hannah uttered in her prayer, from "And Hannah prayed" onward (I Samuel 2:1). You find that one prays eighteen each day, but they are not all for the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He; rather, the first three and the last three are. And the twelve [middle] blessings are all for the needs of a person. And therefore one does not pray eighteen on the Sabbath, for if a person should have a sick one within his house, he would remember in the blessing "Healer of the sick of His people Israel," and he would be distressed; and the Sabbath was given to Israel for holiness, for delight, and for rest, and not for distress. Therefore one prays the first three blessings and the last three, with the rest in the middle. And therefore David said: "Seven times a day I have praised You" (Psalms 119:164); these are the seven blessings that they pray on the Sabbath. And which is this? "This is the one day that is set apart" (cf. Genesis 1), the rest like which there is no other, as it is said: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8), to keep it holy in everything, even from "finding your own business and speaking a word" (Isaiah 58:13). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: Be careful with prayer, for there is no quality finer than it, and it is greater than all the sacrifices, as it is said: "Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices, etc.; when you come to appear before Me, do not continue to bring vain offerings, incense, etc.; your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates, etc.; and when you spread out your hands, etc.; even though you multiply prayer, etc." (Isaiah 1:11-15), implying that it is greater than the sacrifices. And even if a person is not worthy that his prayer be answered and that kindness be done with him, since he prays and increases his supplications, I do kindness with him, for so it is written concerning Him: "All the paths of the LORD are kindness and truth" (Psalms 25:10); I have placed kindness before truth and righteousness before justice, as it is said: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne, etc." (Psalms 89:15). Rabbi Samlai said: Know that all His ways are kindness, for at the beginning of the Torah He adorned the bride, as it is written, "And the LORD God built the rib, etc." (Genesis 2:22), for in the coastal cities they call a bride "bona" (builder). And at its end, He buried the dead: "And He buried him in the valley" (Deuteronomy 34:6). And in its middle, He visited the sick: when Abraham was circumcised, He came with His retinue and visited him, as we read in the passage "And the LORD appeared to him" (Genesis 18:1).