The general format of the morning prayer service is quite similar to that of Shabbat and festivals, except that many additional prayers are inserted into the cantor’s repetition of the Amida. As in the evening service, the phrase Barukh shem is recited aloud during Shema, and the confession is recited at the conclusion of the private Amida prayer as well as during the cantor’s repetition.

Two Torah scrolls are removed from the ark. Six men are called to the Torah during the reading from the first scroll (if Yom Kippur occurs on Shabbat, seven men are called to the Torah). The reading is from the beginning of the Torah portion of Aharei (Leviticus 16), which includes the detailed instructions for the service in the Tabernacle or Temple on Yom Kippur. The maftir is read from the second scroll. This reading includes the additional offerings of Yom Kippur (Numbers 29:7–11). The haftara reading from Prophets (Isaiah 57) deals with the themes of fasting and repentance.

Following the haftara, it is customary in Ashkenazic congregations to recite Yizkor, a short prayer in which one who has lost a parent prays and pledges to give charity for the merit of his deceased parent or parents. This is followed by the prayer beginning “God who is full of compassion” (El maleh raĥamim). This practice is based on the assumption that Yom Kippur can be a time of atonement even for those who are no longer living; when their descendants pray for them and pledge to give charity on their behalf, divine compassion is aroused toward them. Before Yizkor, the gabbai of the synagogue announces: “Yizkor!” It is customary for those whose parents are both living to leave the room until the conclusion of the Yizkor service.

Even Sephardim, who do not recite Yizkor, have the custom to pledge donations to charity on Yom Kippur for the benefit of their deceased parents.

Many have the custom not to recite Yizkor within the first year of the passing of a parent.