In the Bible there is no indication of a fixed ritual; there are, however, a few instances of forms of prayer prescribed for certain occasions. There is the priests’ blessing (Num. vi. 24–26); the thanksgiving on bringing the first-fruit offering to the Temple (Deut. xxvi. 3–10); prayer on distributing the tithes which accumulated in three years (ibid. 13–15). David (Ps. lv. 18) says, “Evening, and morning, and at noonday do I pray;” Daniel “kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime” (Dan. vi. 11); but nothing is said about the form and the contents of these prayers. The Mishnah first speaks of certain fixed forms of prayer: the “Eighteen” (‏שמונה עשרה‎), the reading of Shema (‏קריאת שמע‎), and Benedictions (‏ברכות‎). The composition of the tefillah, “Prayer” par excellence, is attributed to the Men of the Great Synagogue (‏אנשי כנסת הגדולה‎), but only in its outlines. The number of the paragraphs, the theme of each paragraph, and the formula by which it is concluded may then have been fixed, the rest being left to be filled up by each supplicant according to his capacity. It was but natural that prayers uttered repeatedly by men eminent for their piety should be eagerly copied by others, and gradually become, to some extent at least, fixed forms of prayer. The tefillah, however, in the time of the Mishnah was by no means identical with the tefillah of the Men of the Great Synagogue. The destruction of the Temple necessitated several changes; e.g., the prayers for the welfare of Jerusalem, for the prosperity of Israel and of the Holy Land, and for the acceptance of the Service in the Temple were altered in accordance with the new state of affairs. The Mishnah speaks of the tefillah as a well-known existing institution; it seems that it was the regular prayer in the Synagogue Service, and the discussion whether the tefillah should be repeated every day in extenso or in an abbreviated form (Mishnah, Berachoth iv. 3) refers probably to the prayer recited privatim (‏תפלת יחיד‎), and not to the Service in the Synagogue. The prescribed “Eighteen Blessings” were the framework, into which each man was expected to fit in his peculiar, individual supplications; whilst in the public Service the tefillah remained uniform. In the days of Rabban Gamliel of Jamnia, and with his sanction, an important addition was made by Samuel: a prayer for the discomfiture of those who by slander, denunciation, or other wicked means attempt to undermine the existence of the Jewish religion and community (‏ברכת הצדוקים‎ or ‏ברכת המינים‎). [149] In some congregations two other paragraphs (‏את צמח‎ and ‏ולירושלם‎) were at the same time combined into one, in order to keep to the traditional “Eighteen Blessings.” [150]