Shabbos elevates the physical to soul

במדרש כי ה' יתן חכמה מפיו דעת ותבונה ע״ש.

In the Midrash: "For Hashem grants wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Mishlei 2:6) — see there.

The Midrash distinguishes between wisdom that Hashem "grants" and the daas and tevunah that come "from His mouth," a distinction the Sefas Emes will now develop.

כי לוחות הראשונות היו בדעת.

For the first Luchos (Tablets) were with daas (intimate knowledge).

The first Tablets reflected a level of direct, intimate connection to Hashem — "daas," not merely transmitted wisdom.

מעין עשרת הדברות ממש.

Like the Ten Commandments themselves, literally.

The first Luchos carried the very directness of the Aseres Hadibros as Bnei Yisrael heard them straight from Hashem.

יתן חכמה הוא קצת דבר נפרד.

"He grants wisdom" is somewhat a separate thing.

Wisdom that is "granted" is bestowed from outside, remaining at a slight distance from the recipient.

נתינה להמקבל.

A giving to the recipient.

"Granting" implies a gift passed to someone standing apart — giver and receiver remain distinct.

ומפיו דעת ותבונה הוא התקשרות עצום.

But "from His mouth, knowledge and understanding" is an intense bonding.

Daas and tevunah that flow directly "from His mouth" create an intimate attachment, not a gift held at arm's length — like the closeness of the first Luchos.

ובשבת כתיב לדעת כי אני ה' מקדישכם שיש בו מעין לוחות הראשונות.

And regarding Shabbos it is written, "to know (lada'as) that I am Hashem who sanctifies you" (Shmos 31:13), which contains a semblance of the first Luchos.

Shabbos uses the language of "daas," the same intimate knowing of the first Tablets, so Shabbos carries something of that original closeness to Hashem.

וכתיב בהם מעשה אלקים המה שהי' הרצון לתקן העשי' להיות בלי גשמיות.

And of them (the Luchos) it is written, "they were the work of God" (Shmos 32:16), for the ratzon was to elevate the realm of asiyah (action/physicality) so that it would be without gashmiyus (materiality).

The first Tablets, being entirely "the work of God," expressed the Divine will to refine the physical world until it would shed its coarse materiality.

כדכתיב חרות חירות כו'.

As it is written, "charus" (engraved) — read it as "cheirus" (freedom), etc.

Chazal teach that the engraving on the Luchos was a freedom — freedom from the grip of the physical and from the yetzer hara.

וכמו כן בשבת כתיב ושמרו כו' לעשות את השבת.

And likewise regarding Shabbos it is written, "and they shall keep (v'shamru)… to make the Shabbos" (Shmos 31:16).

Shabbos parallels the Luchos in this work of refining the physical, as hinted in the words "v'shamru… to make the Shabbos."

פי' ושמרו לשון המתנה כמו אביו שמר את הדבר.

The meaning of "v'shamru" is an expression of awaiting, as in "and his father awaited (shamar) the matter" (Bereishis 37:11).

"Shamar" here does not mean "guard" but "await with longing" — Yaakov awaited the fulfillment of Yosef's dream.

שצריך להיות השתוקקות האדם בימי המעשה להשבת.

For a person must have a longing during the weekdays for Shabbos.

"V'shamru" teaches that throughout the working week one should yearn and wait eagerly for the coming Shabbos.

ועי״ז יש התקשרות ימי המעשה להשבת.

And through this there is a binding of the weekdays to Shabbos.

This week-long longing connects the ordinary days to Shabbos, drawing the holiness of Shabbos back into them.

ועל ידי זה נתקן העשי' ג״כ.

And through this the realm of asiyah is rectified as well.

When the weekdays are bound to Shabbos through longing, the world of action and physicality is itself elevated and refined.

כי ששת ימים עשה כו' את השמים ואת הארץ וביום השביעי שבת וינפש.

For "six days He made… the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed (vayinafash)" (Shmos 31:17).

The six days are the formation of heaven and earth in their materiality; the seventh introduces a different quality — rest and "soul."

פי' שימי המעשה הם התלבשות הקדושה בצמצומים עד לבוא לבחי' עשי'.

The meaning is that the weekdays are the clothing of kedushah within tzimtzumim (contractions), until it descends to the aspect of asiyah.

During the six days, holiness is garbed and constricted within layer upon layer until it reaches the lowest plane of physical action.

ויש הפרש בין שמים וארץ כענין אענה את השמים והם יענו את הארץ.

And there is a difference between heaven and earth, as in "I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth" (Hoshea 2:23).

Heaven and earth are on different rungs: the spiritual heavens receive directly, while the earth receives only secondarily, through the heavens.

לכן בימי המעשה הגשמיות נפרד מהרוחניות.

Therefore during the weekdays the physical is separated from the spiritual.

In the six working days a gap remains between the material and the spiritual; they are not yet unified.

ובשבת נעשה הכל אחד שמים וארץ.

But on Shabbos everything becomes one — heaven and earth.

Shabbos closes the gap, uniting the spiritual and the physical into a single whole.

ויכול להתהפך כל העשי' להיות רק רוחניות.

And the entire realm of asiyah can be transformed to become purely spiritual.

On Shabbos even the physical world of action can be turned over entirely into ruchniyus.

כענין שכ' בזוה״ק שבתא יומא דנשמתין הוא ולאו דגופא.

As is written in the Zohar HaKadosh: Shabbos is a day of neshamos (souls) and not of the body.

The Zohar teaches that Shabbos belongs to the realm of the soul, transcending the bodily and material.

וז״ש שבת וינפש שלא הוצרך השמים להשתנות והארץ קיבלה נפש ונתעלה מבחי' גוף לנפש והנפש עצמה באמת היא רוחניות:

And this is the meaning of "Shabbos… and was refreshed (vayinafash)": that the heavens did not need to change, while the earth received a nefesh (soul) and was elevated from the aspect of body to that of soul — and the soul itself is in truth spiritual.

On Shabbos the already-spiritual heavens require no change, but the earth is lifted from being mere "body" to having a "soul," and that soul is wholly spiritual — so the physical earth itself is raised into ruchniyus.

Summary: The Sefas Emes distinguishes "granted" wisdom, which stays at a distance from its recipient, from the intimate daas that flows directly "from His mouth" — the closeness of the first Luchos, which Shabbos also carries. The first Tablets and Shabbos share a single purpose: to refine the physical realm of asiyah until it sheds its materiality. By longing for Shabbos throughout the week ("v'shamru" as awaiting), a person binds the weekdays to Shabbos and rectifies the world of action. On Shabbos heaven and earth become one: the spiritual heavens are unchanged, but the earth is elevated from "body" to "soul" and turned entirely into ruchniyus.