The entire course of life on earth toward its final redemption is the constant struggle to redeem the light that is hidden in the darkness, and when this process is completed, there will be revealed the true, whole structure.
This is the meaning of the coming of the Messiah.
Thus, according to this approach, the redemption of the sparks is the work of every Jew, and this work—which is done by keeping the Torah and doing the mitzvot, by ascetic self-discipline and moral restitution, by right intention in all one's deeds and mystical unity—this work is the decisive factor in redemption.
Waiting for salvation is, therefore, not a passive state of being; it is rather the active doing of every person whose every thought and deed can contribute to the redemption of the universe.
This is at least part of the reason for the enormous influence of (Rabbi Isaac Luria) the Ari's teachings on the daily life of Jews in subsequent generations.
The entire people became active participants in the struggle for the "end of days."
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From "The Ari" in The Strife of the Spirit by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz