Yom Kippur is over, and it is perhaps understandable to feel somewhat deflated. The high point of the Jewish calendar has passed us by, not to return for another twelve months, what now?

Judaism is an action-orientated religion - thinking about tefillin all day is worth less than putting them on for a few brief minutes - and our response to post-Yom Kippur syndrome is an active one; we plunge ourselves into the holiday of Sukkot. In fact, the Code of Jewish Law rules that it is a mitzvah to begin work on building the Sukkah immediately Yom Kippur. I’ve heard from some Israeli friends this week that indeed they remember their parents putting up the Sukkah straight after breaking the fast. Here is the UK, perhaps due to our inclement weather, or maybe out of respect to our non-Jewish neighbours who wouldn’t appreciate the hammering and banging, most Sukkah building Jews suffice with beginning the process or even just making their plans.

There is also a deeper connection between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson of Lubavitch once went into his father's study after Yom Kippur; 'What now?' He asked his father.

'Now, we must especially do teshuvah [repent],' his father replied. What did the Rabbi mean by this enigmatic statement?

The emeritus Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks z”l recently recounted a visit he made to Dayan Yechezkel Abramsky (Head of London Beth Din from 1934-1951). Dayan Abramsky was ninety years old when Rabbi Sacks met him, living in Jerusalem where he had retired to. Rabbi Sacks was studying in the Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad at the time.

“You’re in Kfar Chabad, what are you learning about?” he asked him.

“I’m learning about teshuvah.” Rabbi Sacks replied.

“Ah, that is the difference between me and Chabad. I think teshuvah is what you need when your car breaks down. In Chabad, they think teshuvah is the engine that drives the car.” Said Dayan Abramsky.

Rabbi Sacks recounted that at that point he realised that this is the difference. Mainstream thought is that teshuvah was something you do during this time of year; you beat your chest and admit, “I did a few wrong things.” In Chabad-Lubavitch, teshuvah is something you are doing the whole time. You are returning to G-d, you are returning your soul to G-d. Teshuvah is not something you only do between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but it is the culmination of what you should be doing the whole year round.

On Yom Kippur all our previous transgressions are forgiven, and we pledge to try harder in the coming year. After Yom Kippur we are now immeasurably better off than we were before, and in a much better place spiritually. This leads us to the festival of Sukkot, where we sit completely immersed in a mitzvah. Just as a person embraces their friend with great love, not letting him separate from the embrace, similarly on Sukkot, the schach and the four walls represent embracing and closeness to G-d, earned by our service on Yom Kippur.

However if before Yom Kippur our lower spiritual level meant that we could escape with some indiscretions, those times are all behind us. After Yom Kippur, as recipients of G-d's embrace, we must be extra careful. Public figures who have earned high office are always held more accountable than the general public. Hence the need after Yom Kippur to ‘especially do "teshuvah,"’ - we are now being held to a higher standard.

However 'teshuvah' does not simply mean repentance. The word can also be read 'tashuv/Hei' to return to G-d. This is not a backward movement but a forward movement - a move to become more G-dly.

As we proceed from Yom Kippur to Sukkot the challenge is to be more Jewish through the special mitzvot of the festival - build a Sukkah, eat in a Sukkah, build a Lulav and Etrog, shake them daily and encourage and help others to do the same.