Ahavah Rabbah

("[With] abounding love"). Initial words of the benediction which immediately precedes the reading of the Shema in the morning service. It dates from Second Temple times, being indirectly referred to in the Mishnah (Ber. 1:4), where another allusion (Tam. 5:1) is taken to indicate that Ahavah Rabbah was used to open the daily Temple service of the priests (Ber. 11b-12a). Two versions of the blessing were already known then, however, and a conflict arose as to which of these should be recited before the Shema (Ber. 11b). It is possible that this controversy was based on a difference between Palestinian and Babylonian usage. A compromise was reached many centuries later, whereby Ahavah Rabbah was recited in the morning and AHAVAT OLAM, the shorter though similar text, in the evening. Ahavah Rabbah thanks God for His loving gift of the Torah and requests Him to grant Israel spiritual light to understand and obey His precepts. Thanksgiving for Israel's election as God's Chosen People and a prayer for the INGATHERING OF THE EXILES conclude this benediction. The chief differences between Ahavah Rabbah and Ahavat Olam are most apparent in the Ashkenazi rite, which has preserved their separate opening phrases. Other rituals commence with the words "With everlasting love" (ahavat olam), but there are numerous variations in the text (between Sephardi and Yemenite Jews, for example). For doctrinal reasons, the Reform prayer book has severely curtailed its Ashkenazi prototype.

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