Raise Yourself Up

The Sifri (306) says ד"א יערף - ר' אליעזר בנו של ר' יוסי הגלילי אומר: אין יערף אלא לשון הריגה, שנא' (דברים כא) וערפו שם את העגלה בנחל. מה עגלה מכפרת על שפיכות דמים - כך דברי תורה מכפרת על שפיכות דמים:

There is another derash later in the Sifri ד"א יערוף כמטר לקחי - היה ר' בנאה אומר: אם עשית דברי תורה לשמם - דברי תורה חיים הם לך, שנאמר (משלי ד) כי חיים הם למוצאיהם ולכל בשרו מרפא; ואם לא עשית דברי תורה לשמן - דברי תורה ממיתים אותך, שנא' יערף כמטר לקחי. ואין עריפה אלא הריגה, שנא' וערפו את העגלה בנחל,  The second derash is understandable that that מטר, referring to the Torah, will יערף, kill someone who doesn't learn lishma.  But how does the first derash make sense in the possuk, how does it fit in the words that the Torah atones for killing? 

The Shem MiShmuel (5678) cites his father that the Torah is called לקח because how much you get out of it depends on how much you put in, how much you take.  His father also said it is called לקח because it raises a person up like ולקכתם לכם by lulav where the Gemarah says one fulfills the mitzvah by merely picking it up. The S.M. says the two interpretations go hand in hand.  According to how much one puts in, one is raised up.  

With he explains how learning Torah is מכפר.  When one raises themselves, the evil forces sustaining life form the averot one has done get left behind and cut off from their life force.  With this idea he explains the Gemarah Rosh Hashana (18a) בחטא בני עלי בהא דכתיב אם יתכפר עון בית עלי בזבח ומנחה, ואמרו ז"ל בזבח ומנחה אינו מתכפר אבל מתכפר בתורה.  Why does Torah work but nothing else?  Because the decree can't be removed through means of atonement.  However, Torah works from a different angle.  One doesn't try to clean up the evil within themselves but moves above them.  This form of nullifying the decree does work.  

That is what the Sifri means.  By killing the evil forces within one's self, one obtains a כפרה. (The S.M. interprets the שפיכות דמים of the Sifri as to the sin which the Gemarah Niddah (13a) equates to שפיכות דמים.)  

יערוף כמטר לקחי תזל כטל אמרתי.  The S.M. says according to his peshat it is read as when one kills the evil forces within themselves, then one awakens the חיות within a person just as dew brings out the water inside the plant. 

These two types of atonement may be the transfer between the first half of Tishre and the second.  The first half we focus on repentance, on cleansing our sins.  Sukkot is the time we start to move on to the kapparah of Torah.  The ניסוך המים is the celebration of Torah as the mefarshim say on the possuk ושאתם מים בששון and obviously the culmination of the entire holiday is Simchat Torah.  It is a time where we focus on ולקחתם לכם, raising ourselves up above any sins.