Elul- The Answer

The real question is that why did Klal Yisroel need a reminder of the shofar not to sin again couldn’t they learn from their mistake? They just got burned for making an eigal now a mere forty days later they weren’t going to do the same thing all over.

The Maharal says that Klal Yisroel were only able to make the Eigal at the exact moment that Moshe was getting the Luchos from Hashem. The nisayoin of the eigal wasn’t just a desire to worship an idol it was a cosmic mistake. Klal Yisroel thought that this was the right way to worship Hashem. Klal Yisroel grew to a level where they needed something to hold onto, something spiritual to connect them to Hashem and that lead them to the Eigal. The connection they felt they were missing was in reality being given to them at that second, Hashem was giving the Luchas to Moshe right then. They felt a connection- which was real, but was still in heaven. They wanted to see and feel it right away and not wait until Hashem gave them what he knew was the connection they were yearning for.
The second time Moshe went up to heaven there was no risk of Klal Yisroel making a Eigal for the risk was only there when the luchas were there, when there was a yearning for a higher connection. But they had lost that level when they made the eigal and Moshe broke the luchas.
Along came Rosh Chodesh Elul. Moshe was going up once again this time with two tablets of stone for the luchas to be written on. For forty days Klal Yisroel was to prepare themselves and come closer to Hashem through teshuvah. Along with this closeness came along the Yetzar Harah to jump closer to Hashem than permissible. The defense for this was the shofar to wake them up and remind them not to make false connections to Hashem.
Just like the first Elul we relive that closeness every year. The Gemora says that Yom Kipper is special for it’s the day we are forgiven and it’s the day we got the luchas. The teshuvah aspect of Elul and Yom Kipper is only secondary to the closeness we should be striving for. The point of these forty days is just the same as they were in the desert, to inch forward one step at a time to Hashem and his Torah. The way to do it in Elul is through teshuvah, but we cannot lose sight of the goal.