Product Code Database
Ahava rabbah (Hebrew language: אהבה רבה, with abundant love, also Ahavah raba and other variant English spellings) is the name given in Ashkenazi Judaism custom to the Berakhah 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).My People's Prayer Book: Welcoming the night: Minchah and Ma'ariv By Lawrence A. Hoffman, Marc Brettler, page 63
Some claim that text of this prayer was fixed in the period of the Geonim.Higher and higher : making Jewish prayer part of us By Steven Brown
In the Jerusalem Talmud this blessing is referred to by the name birkat torah.Jerusalem Talmud, Brachot 1:5
The prayer contains multiple requests to God. One of them is to be enlightened with the Torah. Another is for God to protect us from shame; it is stated that those who cleave to a life of mitzvah will not be shamed.Teaching Jewish Virtues: Sacred Sources and Arts Activities By Susan Freeman, page 23-25 Another is that the Jewish people be gathered from the four corners of the world and returned to Israel.
The text according to Nusach Ashkenaz is:
In many communities, during Ahava rabbah, at the words "Bring us in peace from the four corners of the earth to", the four corners of the tzitzit are gathered in one's hand. They are held throughout the Shema and kissed four times during the third paragraph of the Shema and once during Emet Veyatziv (the paragraph following the Shema) and then released. The gathering of the tzitzit on these words is symbolic of the gathering of the Jewish people to its land.
Ahava rabbah is recited immediately before the Shema because its recital brings on the obligation to immediately learn, or at the very least, recite verses from the Torah. Since the Shema is composed of verses from the Torah, its recital fulfills that obligation.With all your heart: the Shema in Jewish worship, practice and life By Meir Levin, , page 195
The recitation of Ahava Rabbah fulfills the mitzvah of saying a blessing before Torah study. Normally, verses from the Torah are recited during Birkat HaShachar. But if one forgets to recite these verses then, the obligation is met through the recitation of Ahava Rabbah. However, the recitation of the Shema does not meet the requirement for learning after reciting the blessing on Torah study, even though it is composed of verses from the Torah,Meoros hadaf hayomi, Volume 1 By Bet ha-midrash di-Ḥaside Sokhaṭshov (Bene Beraḳ, Israel), page 33-35 and one must learn something immediately following prayers in order for Ahava Rabbah to work in this capacity.
In Nusach Ashkenaz, a special piyyut (called an ahavah) is inserted before the conclusion of this blessing on special sabbaths. Most notable are the ahavah piyyutim recited in the Eastern Ashkenazic rite on the sabbaths between Passover and Shavuot - these poems include a dialogue between the Jewish people and God, where the Jewish people complain that the persecution has become so difficult and ask for redemption and God comforts them.See the poems in Seder Avodat Yisrael, Eastern Ashkenazic version.
|
|
