Noach as Shabbos rest versus Avraham's earned pillar

אמרו חז"ל נח הי' צריך סעד לתמכו ובאברהם כתיב התהלכתי לפניו.

Chazal said: Noach needed support to uphold him, whereas concerning Avraham it is written, "I walked before Him" (cf. Bereishis 24:40).

The Midrash contrasts the two tzaddikim: Noach "walked with" Hashem and needed Divine support to sustain his righteousness, while Avraham "walked before" Hashem under his own power, leading the way.

ובזוה"ק איתא נח בחי' שבת.

And in the Zohar it is taught that Noach is the aspect of Shabbos.

The very name Noach connotes rest (menuchah), so the Zohar links him to Shabbos, the day of rest.

והוא הסיוע שבא בשבת לעובד ה' בכח הנשמה יתירה כמ"ש ישלח עזרך מקודש.

This is the assistance that comes on Shabbos to the one who serves Hashem, through the power of the extra soul (neshamah yeseirah), as it says, "May He send your help from the Sanctuary" (Tehillim 20:3).

Noach's need for "support" maps onto Shabbos: it is a help granted from Above through the neshamah yeseirah, an outside aid to one's avodah rather than something earned from below.

לכן כתיב נח נח שהאיר השורש שלו מלמעלה לשם נח שלמטה.

Therefore it is written, "Noach, Noach" — that his root shone from above onto the name "Noach" below.

The doubled name reflects a downward flow: the supernal root illuminating the lower self. Noach's righteousness came as light descending from his higher source, not built up from below.

אבל באברהם אבינו כתיב אחר כל הנסיונות אברהם אברהם.

But concerning Avraham Avinu, "Avraham, Avraham" is written only after all the tests (nisyonos).

Avraham's doubled name comes at the Akeidah, after he had passed every trial. His double name is earned through his own labor, the reverse order from Noach's.

שמקודם תיקן אברהם אע"ה את עצמו בכחו שלמטה.

For first Avraham Avinu rectified himself by his own power below.

Avraham built his greatness from the ground up, refining himself through his own effort before the upper light met him.

והוא בחי' ששת ימי המעשה דכ' ששת ימים עשה והם עמודי עולם.

And this is the aspect of the six days of action (sheishes yemei hama'aseh), as it is written, "in six days He made," and they are the pillars of the world.

Avraham corresponds to the weekday labor of building, which are the supporting "pillars" of creation — the working effort that holds the world up, as opposed to the rest of Shabbos.

וכמו כן יש בנפשות ששה עמודי עולם ואברהם הראשון שבהם ולכן כתיב בהבראם באברהם שהעולם עומד עליו וששת ימי המעשה הם עמודים חזקים ונק' ששת מלשון עמודי שש שהם חזקים שאין מקבלין השתנות ולכן עומדים גם בעולם העשי' והטבע וכמו כן אותן הצדיקים שהם בני עוה"ב ממש ונשתלחו לעוה"ז.

So too among souls there are six "pillars of the world," and Avraham is the first of them; therefore it is written "be'hibaram" — "be'Avraham" (when they were created — through Avraham) — that the world stands upon him. And the six days of action are strong pillars, called "sheishes" from the language of "pillars of marble (sheish)," which are so strong that they accept no change, and therefore they stand even in the world of action and nature. So too those tzaddikim who are literally bnei Olam Haba and were sent into this world.

The Midrash reads "be'hibaram" (when they were created) as "be'Avraham" — the world was created for Avraham's sake and rests on him. Like marble pillars that never change, these great tzaddikim remain unshaken even amid the flux of physical nature; they are truly "of the World to Come," dispatched into this world without being altered by it.

ומאחר דכתיב בהבראם שהעולם נברא באברהם ע"כ אברהם למעלה מן העולם.

And since it is written "be'hibaram," that the world was created through Avraham, perforce Avraham is above the world.

If the world was created for Avraham's sake, then he must precede and transcend it — he stands above creation rather than within it.

ובאמת כל ישראל יש להם חלק בעוה"ב ולכן השבת נמסר לבנ"י ומאיר עליהם בשבת כח הנשמה והחלק שבעוה"ב.

And in truth all of Bnei Yisrael have a portion in the World to Come, and therefore Shabbos was given over to Bnei Yisrael, and on Shabbos the power of the soul and the portion of the World to Come shine upon them.

Every Jew has a share in Olam Haba, and Shabbos is the conduit: on it the soul-power and the foretaste of the next world radiate down to all of Israel.

דשבת מעין עוה"ב.

For Shabbos is a taste of the World to Come.

Shabbos is described as "me'ein Olam Haba" — a sample, on a smaller scale, of the world that is entirely rest.

אבל אברהם בן עוה"ב ממש ועליו נאמר שתולים בבית ה' בחצרות אלהינו יפריחו:

But Avraham is literally a "son of the World to Come," and concerning him it is said, "Planted in the house of Hashem, in the courtyards of our God they shall flourish" (Tehillim 92:14).

Whereas the rest of us merely taste Olam Haba through Shabbos, Avraham fully belongs to it. He is "planted" permanently in Hashem's house — rooted above the world even while living within it — fittingly described by a verse from the psalm of Shabbos.

Summary: Noach (the aspect of Shabbos) received his righteousness as a help descending from above through the neshamah yeseirah, while Avraham built himself from below through the nisyonos and the "six days of action," becoming one of the unshakable marble pillars on which the world stands. Every Jew tastes Olam Haba through Shabbos, but Avraham is fully a son of the World to Come, planted above the world in Hashem's house.