Weekday yearning draws down Shabbos

במדרש שוקיו עמודי שש ששת ימים עשה כו' אדני פז חכמה תבונה דעת כו'.

In the Midrash: "His legs are pillars of marble (sheish)" — [a hint to] the six (sheishes) days [in which] He made [heaven and earth]; "set upon sockets of fine gold (adnei paz)" — wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (chochmah, tevunah, da'as)...

The Midrash on Shir HaShirim expounds the verse describing the beloved's "legs of marble set on golden sockets." It reads "sheish" (marble) as the six days of creation, and the "golden sockets" upon which they stand as the divine wisdom — chochmah, tevunah, and da'as. The Sefas Emes will explain how the six weekdays "stand" upon this foundation.

כי בימות החול העיקר להיות המעשים לשם שמים שלא להתדבק במעשים הגשמיים רק להשתוקק לצאת מהם לבוא לבחי' השבת וע"י השתוקקות הזה מתעורר רצון העליון ג"כ.

For during the weekdays the main thing is that one's deeds be lesheim Shomayim — not to become attached to the physical acts, but rather to yearn to emerge from them and to come to the aspect (bechinah) of Shabbos; and through this yearning the supernal will (ratzon ha'elyon) is likewise aroused.

The essential avodah of the workweek is to do all one's mundane activities for the sake of Heaven, without sinking into their physicality, but instead longing to rise beyond them toward the holiness of Shabbos. This human yearning from below awakens a corresponding ratzon from Above.

והרצון הזה מביא השבת כמ"ש יום הששי ויכלו כו'.

And this [aroused] will brings the Shabbos, as it is written, "the sixth day... and [the heaven and earth] were completed."

The longing of the weekdays draws down Shabbos itself. The verse joins "the sixth day" to "and they were completed," teaching that the sixth day's yearning is what ushers in and completes the world with Shabbos.

וע"י השתוקקות הזה משיג חכמה ובינה שהוא בחי' השבת.

And through this yearning one attains chochmah and binah, which is the aspect of Shabbos.

The very longing to escape physicality and reach Shabbos earns a person the higher consciousness of chochmah and binah — wisdom and understanding — which are themselves the inner quality of Shabbos.

הדעת של ימי המעשה.

[This is] the da'as of the workdays.

This attained wisdom becomes the da'as — the guiding awareness — that infuses and elevates the ordinary weekdays.

והוא אדני פז שהששת ימים מיוסדים עליהם והם ג' סעודות שבת שסועדין הכל.

And this is "the sockets of fine gold" upon which the six days are founded — and these correspond to the three Shabbos meals, which sustain everything.

Chochmah, binah, and da'as are the "golden sockets," the foundation on which the six weekdays rest. The Sefas Emes identifies them with the three seudos of Shabbos, which nourish and sustain the entire week that stands upon them.

וכן שמעתי מאמו"ז ז"ל פי' הפסוק והי' ביום הששי והכינו כו' כי והי' לשון שמחה שע"י השמחה לקבל השבת זה הכנה לעורר הארת השבת כנ"ל:

And so I heard from my grandfather, of blessed memory, the explanation of the verse "And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare..." — that "vehayah" (and it shall be) is an expression of joy, for through the joy of receiving the Shabbos, this is the preparation to arouse the illumination of Shabbos, as explained above.

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim): Chazal note that "vehayah" denotes simchah. The preparation for Shabbos on the sixth day is meant to be done with joy, and that very joy of welcoming Shabbos is what awakens and draws down the special light (heiarah) of Shabbos.

Summary: The avodah of the weekdays is to act lesheim Shomayim while yearning to rise above physicality toward the holiness of Shabbos. This yearning arouses the supernal will, draws down Shabbos, and grants chochmah, binah, and da'as — the "golden sockets" (embodied in the three Shabbos meals) upon which the six weekdays stand. And as the Chiddushei HaRim taught, the joyful preparation for Shabbos ("vehayah" connoting simchah) is itself what awakens the light of Shabbos.