Mitzvos draw down the soul's heavenly root

במד' ישלח עזרך מקודש כו'.

In the Midrash: "May He send your help from the Sanctuary [and support you from Tzion]" (Tehillim 20:3).

The Sefas Emes opens with the verse asking that Hashem send help "from the holy place" and support "from Tzion."

כי כך ברא הקב"ה העולם הזה שיצטרכו להמשיך סיוע מעולם עליון כמ"ש במ"א מזה שבעוה"ז חסר השלימות.

For thus did Hashem create this world — that one must draw down assistance (siyua) from the upper world, as we have written elsewhere about this, that in this world completeness is lacking.

Olam Hazeh was deliberately made incomplete, so that we would need to draw help and shleimus down from the higher world above.

אך לכל דבר יש שורש בשמים כמ"ש אין לך עשב שאין לו מזל ברקיע כו'.

But everything has a root in Shomayim, as it is stated, "There is no blade of grass below that does not have a mazal in the heavens [that strikes it and says, 'Grow!']."

Even the lowliest thing is tethered to a spiritual root above; Chazal teach that every blade of grass has its own heavenly "constellation" guiding it.

ומכ"ש האדם וודאי יש לו שורש למעלה מכולם.

And all the more so a person — he certainly has a root above, higher than them all.

If grass has a heavenly root, surely man has one, loftier than every other creation.

והוא כח הנשמה.

And this is the power of the neshamah.

That supernal root of a person is the force of his soul.

וע"י מצות ומעש"ט ממשיכין כח הנשמה שבשמים.

And through mitzvos and maasim tovim (good deeds) one draws down the power of the neshamah that is in the heavens.

Performing mitzvos and good deeds is the channel by which we draw the soul's heavenly power down into this world.

ומקידוש מעשים שבידך.

And the Midrash reads "miKodesh" (from the Sanctuary) as "from the sanctification (kidush) of the deeds of your hands."

The "help from the holy place" comes through sanctifying the very deeds one does — the holiness of one's mitzvah-actions.

הוא הכוונה ומחשבות רצון האדם בעשיות המצוה שהיא קודש.

This refers to the kavanah and the thoughts of a person's will (ratzon) in performing the mitzvah, which is holy.

The "sanctification" is the inner intention and desire a person invests while doing the mitzvah — the kedushah lies in the heart's kavanah.

ומציון מעשים שבידך הוא גוף המעשה כשנעשה בקדושה.

And "miTzion" — "from the markings (tziyunim) of the deeds of your hands" — refers to the body of the deed itself, when it is performed in holiness.

Reading "Tzion" as tziyun (a marker), this points to the physical action of the mitzvah itself, when carried out with kedushah.

כמ"ש בזוה"ק שמכוונת המצות וגוף המעשה נעשה מכל א' לבוש מיוחד להאדם בעולם העליון ע"ש פ' תרומה.

As is stated in the Zohar HaKadosh, that from the kavanah of the mitzvos and from the body of the deed, a special garment (levush) is made from each one for the person in the upper world — see there, Parashas Terumah.

The Zohar teaches that both the intention and the physical act of a mitzvah weave a spiritual "garment" that clothes the soul in the World Above.

והנה בשבת קודש יורד הקדושה לאדם.

Now on Shabbos Kodesh, holiness descends to a person.

On Shabbos, kedushah comes down to a person as a gift from Above.

והוא ישלח עזרך מקודש.

And this is "May He send your help from the Sanctuary (miKodesh)."

That downpouring of Shabbos holiness is the "help from the holy place" of which the verse speaks.

הנשמה יתירה.

This is the neshamah yeseirah (the additional soul of Shabbos).

The "help from the Sanctuary" is specifically the extra soul granted on Shabbos.

ומציון יסעדך הוא ימי המעשה.

And "and may He support you from Tzion" refers to the weekdays (yemei ha'maaseh).

The "support from Tzion" — from the tziyunim, the markers — corresponds to the six working days.

ושבת נותן ברכה לכל הימים א"כ יש בקדושת השבת שורש לכל הימים ואותן השרשים הם הציונים שיש בהם רמזים לקדושה אף שאינו קודש ממש.

And Shabbos gives blessing to all the days; if so, within the holiness of Shabbos there is a root for all the days, and those roots are the "markers" (tziyunim) in which there are hints of holiness, even though it is not actual holiness.

Shabbos blesses the whole week, so its kedushah is the root of every day. Those roots leave "markers" within the weekdays — traces and hints of holiness, though the weekdays are not themselves intrinsically holy like Shabbos.

וכ' ויברך ויקדש בשבת.

And it is written, "And He blessed and He sanctified" regarding Shabbos.

The Torah pairs two acts at the close of Creation: Hashem both "blessed" and "sanctified" the seventh day.

גוף הקדושה של שבת וגם להיות ברכה ושישפיעו ממנו נחלים מיוחדים לכל הימים.

"He sanctified" is the body of the holiness of Shabbos itself; and "He blessed" is so that there should be blessing, and that special streams (nechalim) should flow forth from it to all the days.

The two words correspond to two functions: kidush is Shabbos's own intrinsic holiness, while berachah is the channel through which Shabbos pours distinct streams of influence into each weekday.

ואותן הצינורות מעוררין ע"י ציון מעשים כנ"ל:

And those channels (tzinoros) are awakened through the "marking" of one's deeds, as above.

The conduits that carry Shabbos's blessing into the week are activated by our holy mitzvah-deeds during the weekdays — the tziyunim that connect each day back to its Shabbos root.

Summary: Hashem made this world deliberately incomplete so that we would draw help down from above, for everything — and especially a person, through his neshamah — has a root in Shomayim. Mitzvos draw that soul-power down: their inner kavanah is "help from the Sanctuary" and their physical act is the "marker from Tzion," together weaving a garment for the soul above. So too Shabbos: its holiness descends as the neshamah yeseirah and, through the blessing Hashem placed in it, flows as streams into all the weekdays — channels awakened by our sanctified deeds.