Will and toil sanctify our deeds

במד' ישלח עזרך מקידוש מעשים.

In the Midrash: "He shall send your help [from the Sanctuary]" — from the sanctification of deeds.

The Midrash reads "your help from the kodesh" as referring to the sanctification of a person's deeds.

מציון יסעדך מציון מעשים.

"And from Tziyon He shall support you" — from the marking out (tziyun) of deeds.

And "from Tziyon He shall support you" is read as tziyun ma'asim — the plain establishing and marking of one's deeds.

פי' אף כי א"י להיות קודש עכ"ז ע"י הרצון והיגיעה שמראין ומרמזין להמשיך עלינו הקדושה שהיא ענין המצות הפשטיים שאין אנו יודעין לעשותם בקדושה כרצונו ית'.

The explanation: even though we are unable to be [truly] holy, nevertheless through the ratzon (will) and the toil by which we show and hint that we wish to draw kedushah upon ourselves — which is the matter of the plain mitzvos that we do not know how to perform with holiness according to His blessed will —

We cannot reach genuine holiness on our own, but our sincere desire and effort to draw down kedushah — even when we perform the simple mitzvos without grasping their full sanctity — itself accomplishes something.

עכ"ז זה גורם להיות נשלח עזרו מקודש.

— nevertheless this causes His help to be sent from the kodesh.

That very longing and labor draws down Heavenly assistance from the holy place to complete what we cannot accomplish ourselves.

וקידוש מעשים בא ע"י ציון מעשים.

And the sanctification of deeds comes about through the marking of deeds.

The plain, marked-out performance of mitzvos in this world is what opens the channel for those deeds to become sanctified from Above.

פרשנו ציון מעשים בחול.

We have explained "the marking of deeds" as referring to the weekdays.

Tziyun ma'asim — the basic doing of deeds — corresponds to the days of the week, the realm of action.

קידוש מעשים בשבת.

"The sanctification of deeds" refers to Shabbos.

Kiddush ma'asim — the sanctified dimension of those deeds — corresponds to Shabbos, when the weekday labor is elevated and made holy.

וגם בכל פרט המחשבה והרצון נק' קידוש מעשים.

And also, in every detail, the thought and the will are called "the sanctification of deeds."

On the personal level too, the inner machshavah and ratzon behind an act are its sanctified element.

וגוף המעשה ציון.

And the body of the deed itself is the "marking."

The outer, physical performance of the act is the tziyun — the visible marker — while the inner intent is its sanctification.

וכמו כן ש"ק הוא מחשבה ורצון של ימי המעשה.

And likewise the holy Shabbos is the thought and will of the weekdays.

Shabbos stands to the workweek as inner intent stands to the outer act — it is the penimiyus, the soul, of all the deeds done during the six days.

ברש"י כ"מ שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא קדושה.

In Rashi: wherever you find a fence (guarding) against ervah (illicit relations), you find kedushah.

Rashi teaches that holiness is bound up with restraint — the kedushah of a person flows from his fencing himself off from forbidden desire.

וע"י גדר ערוה בימי המעשה מוצאין קדושה בש"ק.

And through the fence against ervah during the weekdays, one finds kedushah on the holy Shabbos.

The self-restraint exercised in the workday world is precisely what yields the holiness that is revealed and received on Shabbos.

וכבר כ' מזה במ"א:

And I have already written of this elsewhere.

The Sefas Emes notes that he has treated this theme in another place.

Summary: Though we cannot reach true holiness on our own, our will and toil in performing even the plain mitzvos draws down Heavenly help that sanctifies our deeds. The outer act is the "marking" (the weekday) and the inner intent is the "sanctification" (Shabbos); Shabbos is the soul of the workweek. And the kedushah revealed on Shabbos is born of the self-restraint practiced during the days of action.