The forty days of favor empower teshuvah

הימים הללו מ' יום האחרונים שהיו ברצון הם עצמם מסייעין לבות בנ"י לתשובה.

These days — the final forty days that were days of favor (ratzon) — themselves assist the hearts of Bnei Yisrael toward teshuvah.

The Sefas Emes refers to the forty days from Rosh Chodesh Elul through Yom Kippur, when Moshe Rabbeinu ascended for the second luchos and Hashem showed His favor. The very days carry a power that helps a Jew return.

כאשר דור המדבר היו חרדים מאוד לה' בימים אלו.

Just as the generation of the wilderness were in great trembling before Hashem during these days.

The original generation experienced these forty days in fear and longing for Hashem after the sin of the Golden Calf, and that spiritual quality was imprinted into the days for all time.

וכמו שהחטא נשאר לדורות כמ"ש אין לך פקידה שאין בה מעון העגל ממילא התשובה שעשו אז ותקנו החטא.

And just as the sin remains for the generations — as it is said, "there is no reckoning that does not contain something of the iniquity of the Calf" — so too, automatically, the teshuvah they did then and the rectification of the sin remain as well.

If the negative imprint of the Eigel endures through the generations (Chazal say every punishment includes a measure of it), then by the same logic the positive teshuvah that repaired it must also endure permanently.

בוודאי הי' ג"כ לדורות.

Certainly it too was for all generations.

The Sefas Emes affirms that the teshuvah of that generation became a lasting resource accessible to every later generation.

ומרע"ה תיקן בשורש נשמות בנ"י בשמים כמ"ש שלא הניח זוית ברקיע שלא נתחבט עלי' והם השרשים של נשמות בנ"י שנמשלו ככוכבים ברקיע.

And Moshe Rabbeinu effected a tikkun at the very root of the souls of Bnei Yisrael in the heavens, as it is said that he left no corner of the firmament against which he did not press himself in prayer — and these are the roots of the souls of Bnei Yisrael, who are compared to the stars in the firmament.

During these forty days Moshe davened across the entire heavens. Since each Jew's neshamah has its root above, like a star, Moshe's tefillah reached and repaired the very source of every Jewish soul.

לכן בנקל עכ"פ לנו לתקן גופי החטאים.

Therefore it is, in any case, easy for us to repair the bodies of the sins.

Because Moshe already mended the root of our souls above, our task below is comparatively light: we need only rectify the "bodies," the concrete sins themselves, and the spiritual groundwork is already laid.

וע"י שלוחות שניות היו בדרך בעלי תשובות.

And because the second luchos came by way of baalei teshuvah.

The second tablets were given specifically after sin and return, so they carry the unique strength of teshuvah, of one who has fallen and risen again.

נשאר ההארה שלהם גם עתה יותר מהימים של הלוחות הראשונות כי בע"ת אתיין בחילא סגי:

Their illumination remains even now greater than the days of the first luchos, for baalei teshuvah come with great force (b'chaila sagi).

Citing the Zohar, the Sefas Emes teaches that the light of these Elul-to-Yom-Kippur days, born of teshuvah, surpasses even the days of the first luchos — because one who returns approaches Hashem with an intensity that the never-fallen does not possess.

Summary: The final forty days from Rosh Chodesh Elul through Yom Kippur are intrinsically days of ratzon that aid teshuvah, for the wilderness generation's return after the Eigel — like the sin itself — was imprinted on the days forever. Moshe Rabbeinu repaired the very root of our souls above, leaving us the lighter task of mending the "bodies" of our sins below. And because the second luchos came through teshuvah, their light shines even more powerfully than the first, since baalei teshuvah come b'chaila sagi, with surpassing force.