Purpose of the workweek and Shabbos rest

ששת ימים כו' למען ינוח שורך וחמורך כו'.

"Six days [you shall do your work…] in order that your ox and your donkey may rest…" (Shemos 23:12).

The Sefas Emes opens with the pasuk about Shabbos rest extending even to one's animals, which he will explain as pointing to the ultimate purpose of the workweek.

כי שבת הוא עצה לקרב כל מעשה בראשית להשי"ת ע"י שמירת שבת שהוא עדות שהשי"ת ברא מעשה בראשית.

For Shabbos is the means to draw all of creation (maaseh bereishis) close to Hashem, may He be blessed, through keeping Shabbos, which is testimony that Hashem created the world.

Shabbos is the device by which all of creation is brought near to its Creator, because Shabbos observance is a living testimony that Hashem made the world.

וזהו למען ינוח כו' כמ"ש במ"א באורך.

And this is the meaning of "in order that [your ox and donkey] may rest…," as explained elsewhere at length.

This bringing-near of creation is the deeper sense of the "rest" promised even to the animals, a theme the Sefas Emes develops more fully in another place.

[ועיין בס' עבודת ישראל].

[And see this in the sefer Avodas Yisrael.]

An editorial cross-reference directing the reader to the sefer Avodas Yisrael (the Maggid of Kozhnitz) for a parallel discussion.

ולמען ינוח הוא טעם על ששת ימים תעשה מעשיך כי מהראוי היה שבנ"י יהיו בחי' עולם שכולו שבת.

And "in order that [they] may rest" is the reason for "six days you shall do your work," for by right Bnei Yisrael should have been on the level of "a world that is entirely Shabbos."

The very purpose of the six workdays is the rest they lead to. In truth, the natural state of Bnei Yisrael would have been a constant, unbroken Shabbos — pure dveikus with no need for mundane labor.

רק שנשתלחו נשמות ישראל בעוה"ז כדי לתקן בחי' נפש הבהמיות וכדי שיתוספו עליהם גרים.

Only that the souls of Yisrael were sent into this world in order to rectify the aspect of the animal soul (nefesh habahamis), and so that converts (geirim) might be added to them.

Jewish souls descended into this world for two purposes: to refine and elevate the animal soul, and to draw in geirim — gathering the holy sparks scattered among the nations.

לכן יש ימי המעשה.

Therefore there are weekdays (yemei hamaaseh).

It is for the sake of this work of refinement that the mundane workdays exist at all.

ופי' למען ינוח וינפש כו' הוא לעתיד יהי' שייכות שורך כו' והגר ג"כ להמנוחה:

And the meaning of "in order that [your ox and donkey] may rest and be refreshed (v'yinafesh)…" is that in the future the "ox" and the "convert" too will have a share in the [eternal] rest.

The promise that even the "ox and donkey" — the animal soul — will "rest" points to the future, when the refined animal nature and the geirim alike will be brought into the ultimate menuchah of the world that is entirely Shabbos.

Summary: Shabbos draws all of creation back to Hashem and bears witness that He created the world. By right, Bnei Yisrael would live in a constant "world that is entirely Shabbos," but their souls were sent into this world to refine the animal soul and to bring in geirim — which is why the workweek exists. In the future, even the "ox and donkey" and the geirim will share in the eternal rest.