Fences against impurity draw down holiness

במד' ישלח עזרך מקודש כו' תחתונים שנבראו לסיוע כו'.

In the Midrash on "May He send your help from the Sanctuary…": the lower beings that were created to give assistance…

The Midrash on the verse from Tehillim speaks of help sent "from the Sanctuary," and of lower creations brought into being precisely in order to assist man.

מקודש מקידוש מעשים שבידך ומציון מעשים שבידך כו'.

"From the Sanctuary (mikodesh)" — from the sanctification (mikidush) of the deeds in your hand; "and from Tziyon" — from the deeds in your hand…

The Midrash rereads "from the Sanctuary" as "from the sanctification of your own deeds" — the heavenly help a person receives is drawn down by the holiness of his own actions.

כי האדם נברא באופן זה שיצטרך לסיוע עליון כמאמר אם אין הקב"ה עוזרו כו'.

For man was created in such a way that he requires help from Above, as it says, "If HaKadosh Baruch Hu did not help him…"

Man is deliberately formed to be dependent on Divine assistance, as Chazal teach that without Hashem's help one could not overcome the yetzer hara.

אכן הסיוע תלוי ג"כ בעבודת האדם.

Indeed, however, that assistance also depends on the avodah of man.

Yet the help from Above is not unconditional; it is awakened and earned by a person's own efforts in serving Hashem.

וז"ש מקידוש מעשים שבידך כו'.

And this is the meaning of "from the sanctification of the deeds in your hand."

The verse itself ties the heavenly help directly to the sanctity a person generates through his own actions.

והיא בחי' תורה ומצות כי התורה קודש.

And this is the aspect of Torah and mitzvos, for the Torah is "holiness."

The "sanctification of your deeds" refers to Torah and mitzvos — the Torah being the realm of pure kedushah.

והמצות הם במעשה גשמיי רק שהם רמזים וציונים לדברים עליונים.

And the mitzvos are performed through physical action, except that they are hints and markers pointing to lofty, supernal matters.

Though mitzvos are carried out with physical objects and deeds, each is a "marker" (tziyun) signaling a sublime spiritual reality above.

וע"י קיום המצות במעשה זוכה אח"כ לקדושת התורה.

And through fulfilling the mitzvos in deed, one afterward merits the holiness of the Torah.

Physical performance of mitzvos is the gateway: by doing them one becomes worthy of the higher kedushah of Torah.

וברש"י בכ"מ שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא קדושה.

And in Rashi: "In every place where you find a fence against ervah (illicit relations), you find kedushah."

Rashi teaches that holiness is found precisely where a person erects boundaries to guard against forbidden desire.

פי' כפי עבודת האדם בעוה"ז במקום שצריך בירור וגדרים וסייגים משמרת למשמרתי כו'.

The explanation: according to a person's avodah in this world, in the place where there is need for clarification, fences, and safeguards — "a guard for My charge" —

Where a person must do the work of birur (sifting out good from bad) and build protective fences against sin, that very labor becomes the soil in which kedushah grows.

כמו כן זוכה לקדושה.

so too he merits kedushah.

The measure of fencing and safeguarding one does is precisely the measure of holiness one attains.

והם ימי המעשה והשבת שזוכין ע"י עבודת ימי המעשה מי שטרח בערב שבת לברר התערובות והוא גדר ערוה.

And these are the weekdays and Shabbos: that one merits (Shabbos) through the avodah of the weekdays — whoever toiled on erev Shabbos to sift out the mixtures, which is "a fence against ervah" —

The weekdays are the time of sifting and fencing; Chazal's saying that one who toils on erev Shabbos eats on Shabbos illustrates that the weekday labor of separation earns the holiness that follows.

יאכל בשבת שנקרא קודש כנ"ל.

shall eat on Shabbos, which is called "holy," as above.

Shabbos, called kodesh, is the reward of holiness enjoyed by one who labored to refine and guard during the week.

גם פי' גדר ערוה הוא בחי' בנ"י בכלל שנבראו להיות חומה להכניע כל הסט"א.

Furthermore, the meaning of "a fence against ervah" is the aspect of Bnei Yisrael in general, who were created to be a wall to subdue all the sitra achra (the side of impurity).

On a national level, Bnei Yisrael themselves are the "fence" — created to stand as a protective wall holding back and subduing the forces of impurity in the world.

ואיתא במד' ע"פ והי' מספר בני ישראל כחול הים כמו שכ' ושמתי חול גבול לים.

And it is brought in the Midrash on the verse "And the number of Bnei Yisrael shall be like the sand of the sea," as it is written, "I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea."

Just as Hashem set the sand as a barrier the sea cannot cross, Bnei Yisrael being likened to sand hints at their role as a boundary against overflowing forces.

כמו כן בני ישראל הם גבול וגדר לסט"א שנאמר עליהם מקולות מים רבים כו'.

So too, Bnei Yisrael are a boundary and a fence against the sitra achra, of which it is said, "more than the voices of many waters…"

As the sand restrains the roaring waters, Bnei Yisrael restrain the powers of impurity, which are likened to mighty surging waters.

שלא יניחו להתפשט כחות הטומאה בעולם.

so that they should not allow the forces of impurity to spread out in the world.

Their mission is to contain the tumah and prevent it from flooding and spreading through creation.

לכן בנ"י נק' גדר ערוה ולכן הם מקבלין הקדושה:

Therefore Bnei Yisrael are called "a fence against ervah," and therefore they are the ones who receive the kedushah.

Because Bnei Yisrael serve as the very fence holding back impurity, they are fittingly the recipients of holiness — for wherever there is such a fence, there kedushah rests.

Summary: Man was created to need help from Above, yet that help is drawn down by the sanctification of his own deeds — Torah and mitzvos, which are physical acts that mark lofty spiritual realities. Kedushah is found precisely where a person erects fences and safeguards against ervah, doing the weekday labor of birur that earns the holiness of Shabbos. Bnei Yisrael as a whole are this "fence," created like sand bounding the sea to subdue the sitra achra — and therefore they are the ones who receive holiness.