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Morning Prayer
Yom Kippur Morning Prayer
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The Talmud (Chulin 60b) teaches that on the third day of Creation, the vegetation only grew slightly, remaining this way until Adam arrived on the sixth day and prayed for G-d’s mercy, as a result of which, rain fell and the vegetation grew. G-d could have given plentiful rain just as He provided everything else during the process of Creation, but He withheld rain because He wanted to ensure that Adam would turn to him in prayer. This was important to G-d because, as the Talmud continues, “G-d cherishes the prayers of the righteous.” Simply put, G-d desired that Adam foster the meaningful connection with Him that is possible through prayer.
Just as G-d desired this relationship with Adam, so does He desire this relationship with us. Just as He withheld rain so that Adam would pray for it, so did He design a system in which many of our potential blessings are stimulated by our prayers. We pray because we have needs, but we have those needs so that we will pray.
The Yom Kippur Morning Prayer (shacharit) service begins on page 96. The Shema is on pages 141–143.
The shacharit Amidah (which is where prayers unique to Yom Kippur begin) is on pages 145–155.
In the synagogue setting, after the Amidah, the cantor leads the congregation in the repetition of the Amidah, with many notable Yom Kippur prayers added along the way. Some of the more famous parts of the liturgy are Lekel Orech Din (pages 170–171) and Shema Koleinu (page 117).
We recite on this day Yizkor (see below, pages 36-39), and we then recite the musaf service. The Amidah is in the machzor on pages 215–226.
In the synagogue setting, the cantor leads the congregation in the repetition of the Amidah, with many notable Yom Kippur prayers added along the way. Some of the highlights include Unetaneh Tokef (pages 238–239) and the Avodah (pages 246–258), a detailed account of the special service performed by the High Priest in the Holy Temple.
