Ahava rabbah

This article is about a prayer and blessing. For the musical mode, see Phrygian dominant scale.

Ahava rabbah (Hebrew: אהבה רבה, [with an] abundant love, also Ahavah raba and other variant English spellings) is the name given in Ashkenazi Jewish custom to the blessing recited immediately before the Shema as part of the Shacharit (morning) prayer. The name is taken from the first words of the prayer.

In Sephardi custom and for many of those whose follow Nusach Sefard, the text of the same blessing differs slightly, and the blessing's name and initial words are "Ahavat Olam" (not to be confused with the shorter blessing of Ahavat Olam recited by both Sefardim and Ashkenazim during Maariv).[1]

Some claim that text of this prayer was fixed in the period of the Geonim.[2]: 102 

In the Jerusalem Talmud this blessing is referred to by the name birkat torah.[3]

  1. ^ My People's Prayer Book: Welcoming the night: Minchah and Ma'ariv By Lawrence A. Hoffman, Marc Brettler, page 63
  2. ^ Higher and higher : making Jewish prayer part of us By Steven Brown
  3. ^ Jerusalem Talmud, Brachot 1:5