Yom Kippur Prayer Service

Mincha begins with the Torah reading, Leviticus 18. This portion focuses on the prohibition of certain marriages and illicit relations. Some say this portion is read because Yom Kippur used to be a day on which young men chose brides, and the reading reminds the young men to choose their brides with purity and family in mind. Others say this portion is read because it follows the Torah portion read in the morning. The Book of Jonah is also read. In Jonah we learn how the people of Nineveh repented and how God forgave. After the Torah is returned to the ark, the same Amidah as the one recited during Shacharit is recited. The repetition of the Amidah includes piyyutim (poems) and selichot (penitential prayers).