day. Early studies in the history of Jewish Prayer Modes concluded that the musical scales used were based upon ancient Biblical cantillation, but modern scholarship has questioned the validity of these findings. Ahavah Rabbah mode The Ahavah Rabbah mode – sometimes referred to as Freygish (Phrygian dominant) – is named after the blessing that immediately precedes the Sh'ma in the morning service. This blessing begins with the words Ahavah Rabbah (literally: great love), and describes how God's love for Israel is manifest through God's revelation of Torah. Musically, Ahavah Rabbah is considered to be the most Jewish-sounding of all the prayer modes, because of the interval of a flattened second, creating an augmented second interval between the second and third scale degrees. This mode is used in the beginning of the weekday evening service through the Chatzi Kaddish, a large portion of the weekday morning service, parts of the Shabbat morning service, and occasionally on the High Holidays. The Ahavah Rabbah mode is also used in many Jewish folk songs, such as "Hava Nagila", and popular liturgical melodies, such as "Yismechu". It is similar to the Arabic maqam Hijaz, but whereas the dominant of Hijaz is on the fourth degree, Ahavah Rabbah strongly favors the third. Ukrainian Dorian mode The Ukrainian Dorian mode (also known as Mi sheberach mode) is a combined scale built upon the seventh degree of the Ahavah Rabbah scale. It is also closely related to the Magein Avot mode, in that a pre-concluding phrase in Ukrainian Dorian can cadence on its supertonic, which is the 5th degree of the relative Magein Avot scale. This happens quite often in the nusach for the Three Festivals. It is similar to the Arabic maqam Nikriz. Magein Avot mode The Magein Avot (literally: Shield of our Fathers) mode takes its name from a paragraph in the Me'ein Sheva prayer, which directly follows the Amidah in the Friday evening service. Musically, it most closely resembles a minor scale from the Western classical music tradition or the Arabic maqam Nahawand. It is used in simple davening, or prayer chant, often by means of a single recitation tone, which the cantor uses to cover a large amount of liturgical text in a quickly-flowing style. The simplicity of both the mode and the chanting associated with it is meant to reflect the peaceful atmosphere of Shabbat. When chanting in the Magein Avot mode, it