Taking the good after purification

ולקחתם לכם כו' דכ' בפרשת התשובה כל תשא עון וקח טוב.

"And you shall take for yourselves..." — for it is written in the parsha of teshuvah: "wholly bear away iniquity and accept the good."

The Sefas Emes links the command to "take" the four minim to the pasuk in Hoshea about teshuvah, which asks Hashem to both remove sin and receive what is good in us.

וביוהכ"פ נתקיים תשא עון.

And on Yom Kippur the "bearing away of iniquity" is fulfilled.

The first half — the removal of sin — is accomplished by the kapparah of Yom Kippur.

ובסוכות קח טוב.

And on Sukkos, "accept the good."

The second half — drawing out and receiving the good — belongs to the simchah and avodah of Sukkos that follows.

פרש"י למדנו דרך הטוב אחר טהרת החטא.

Rashi explains: we have been taught the way of the good after the purification from sin.

Once sin is cleansed on Yom Kippur, a person is shown the path of good he is now able to walk.

ז"ש ולקחתם לכם כמ"ש לקח טוב נתתי לכם.

This is the meaning of "and you shall take for yourselves," as it says, "a good acquisition (lekach tov) have I given you."

The word "take" hints at the "good lekach" — the Torah itself — that Hashem grants, which is now available to one purified by Yom Kippur.

וכ"כ תודיעני אורח חיים כו' ודורש במדרש על הלולב.

And so too: "You will make known to me the path of life..." — and the Midrash expounds this upon the lulav.

The "path of life" of Tehillim is darshened by Chazal as a reference to the mitzvah of lulav, the way of life revealed after teshuvah.

וזה הרמז ובחג נידונים על המים שהיא התורה לכל א' כפי מה שעשה תשובה ביוהכ"פ:

And this is the hint that on the Chag we are judged concerning the water — which is the Torah — for each one according to the teshuvah he did on Yom Kippur.

Sukkos is when we are judged for rain (mayim), and water symbolizes Torah; each person receives his measure of Torah-illumination in proportion to the teshuvah he achieved on Yom Kippur.

Summary: The pasuk "bear away iniquity and accept the good" maps onto Yom Kippur and Sukkos: Yom Kippur removes sin, and Sukkos lets us "take the good." Once purified, a person is shown the "path of life" — the Torah, hinted in the lulav — and on Sukkos each one is granted his measure of Torah, like water, according to the teshuvah he did.