The concluding Yom Kippur prayer service is Ne'ilah, whose name means “closing” or “locking.” It is the final and fifth service of Yom Kippur, held late in the afternoon as the fast approaches its end.
Ne'ilah is framed as the last opportunity for communal prayer and repentance before the symbolic closing of the heavenly gates. Its Amidah is distinctive: prayers that earlier asked to be written in the Book of Life are traditionally changed to ask that a person be sealed in it.
The service concludes with powerful declarations, including Shema Yisrael and, in the common custom, Hashem Hu HaElohim repeated seven times. A shofar blast then signals the end of Yom Kippur and the fast, after which worshippers recite the weekday evening service and Havdalah.
Ne'ilah is often confused with Kol Nidre because both are strongly associated with Yom Kippur. Kol Nidre begins the evening observance, before the main night prayer, while Ne'ilah comes at the opposite end of the day. Shacharit and Mincha are the morning and afternoon services, not the conclusion.