The difference between weekdays and the Sabbath (Shabbat) is that weekdays represent the work of correcting souls, which is a process through which a person gradually reaches the state of the goal of creation called Shabbat, the state of final correction. This attainment is contingent on the work performed throughout the week, as it is written: “He who has not exerted himself on the eve of the Sabbath, what shall he eat on the Sabbath?”

Spiritual advancement means that a person, at any given moment of his life, weighs his actions to determine the extent to which they are directed toward the goal of creation. This is the difference between a person’s material and spiritual levels.

We exist in this world, and it seems to us that actions control and determine everything. Indeed, to maintain life in our animal body, actions are indispensable. We must plow the earth, sow seeds, and harvest crops; that is, we must perform all 39 types of work to produce bread, which constitutes the staple food of man.

Unlike animals that merely gather ready-to-eat fruits and do not need to cook their own food, humans must actively engage in the preparation of their food because nothing in nature exists in a ready-to-consume state except for water, salt, and herbs.

Everything we procure to sustain our existence requires processing. We must labor “by the sweat of your brow.” Therefore it seems to us that the primary element is physical action. Indeed, for everything related to material life in this world, intention is not important. For example, we can bring workers from Thailand, and they will work, while we simply enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The same principle applies to the physical observance of the Torah and the commandments: one who performs them is called a “righteous man,” and the one who does not do this is called a “sinner.” These definitions are correct regarding existence in this world. This degree is called the “holy still” (Domem deKedusha); that is, the assessment of one being righteous or a sinner based on his actions.

However, there is also a spiritual aspect of man, and here we must fulfill the commandments, not with the help of the body, but in accordance with the “point in the heart.” When a person has this point, he can fulfill the Torah and commandments in a spiritual way, but when he lacks it, he cannot.

If one were to approach any individual and tell them that it is a necessity, that the Creator has commanded us so, that it will for their own good, then he would do everything strictly at the level of material action, in the heart (in his egoistic desire), but not in the point in the heart (the embryonic seed of a spiritual Kli). This is called being a “proper Jew.”

However, in order to work with intention, a connection with the Creator is needed, which does not come from the ordinary “heart” but from the “point in the heart.” In it, we evaluate a person’s actions according to their intention, since relative to the point in the heart, the Creator does not take our actions into account at all, but only intentions. Intention is action.

This means, as it is said, “He has done, is doing, and will do all actions; there is none else besides Him.” Everything comes from the Creator, both in actions and intentions. The question here is only about a person’s attitude to what comes to him.

According to this attitude, that is, according to the intention of a person, we evaluate him as a righteous or a sinner. Either his intention is directed at the Creator, which is called “for the sake of giving” (al Menat Lehashpia), or it is not yet directed at the Creator and is called “for the sake of receiving” (al Menat Lekabel).
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/14/26, Rabash, “Why the Speech of Shabbat Must Not Be as the Speech of a Weekday, in the Work”

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