Yaakov Avinu raised his eyes and he saw that Eisav was coming with four hundred men. 33:3 "V’hu avar lifnehem, vayishtachu artza sheva pe’amim ad gishto ad achiv" - and he, Yaakov, went ahead of them and bowed seven times until he reached his brother.
Yaakov was an ish tam, he was the choicest of all the avos, and he bowed down to Eisav, who was the height of impurity, not once but seven times! How do we understand this?
The Zohar Hakadosh (parshas Vayishlach daf 1seven1) asks this question, that the pasuk says one is not allowed to bow down to another g-d, so how is it that Yaakov bowed down to Eisav? Answers the Zohar, Yaakov Avinu didn’t bow down to Eisav; rather, he bowed down to the Shechina which was passing there. Like the pasuk says "v’hu avar lifneihem" – which is referring to Hashem who is called "v’hu". It was only "maras ayin"- an appearance to the eye - that he bowed down to Eisav. The question then is why did Yaakov choose to bow to Hashem seven times right when he met up with Eisav, if it appeared to all the onlookers like he was bowing down to Eisav?
The gemora in Kedushin 29: tells us a story that in the bais hamidrash of Abaye there was mazik (a demon) that hurt people. Even if two people walked into the bais hamidrash together, even by day, they would get hurt from it. One day Abaye heard that Rav Acha Bar Yaakov was coming to their city. Abaye had an idea and he made an announcement that no one should give Rav Acha a place to sleep. In this way, he would be forced to go to shul and he will somehow get rid of this mazik. Rav Acha came and of course he ended up in shul. He saw this mazik, which had seven heads. Rav Acha started to daven and every time he bowed down, one head was cut off, until he bowed down seven times and the mazik died – they were saved!
Says the Megale Ha’amukos: Eisav represents the yetzer hara - the klipa of Eisav has seven powers of impurity. The yetzer hara has seven names to hint to us the seven powers of impurity that the sar shel Eisav has. The yetzer hara is the sar shel Eisav. In order to subdue the power of the yetzer hara, which is Eisav, Yaakov had to bow down seven times to Hashem before he reached Eisav. That’s what the pasuk says he bowed down seven times until he reached his brother, meaning that he bowed down to Hashem before he reached Eisav, since by bowing down, he subdued Eisav's powers.
Says the Megale Ha'amukos, Rav Acha also needed to bow seven times in order to kill the mazik, which was a snake that had seven heads. And Rav Acha got this power to be able to do that from Yaakov who already subdued the seven heads of the klipa of Eisav and weakened it. That’s why he was called Rav Acha bar Yaakov – the power of Rav Acha to remove the seven heads was because he was bar Yaakov, from the children of Yaakov Avinu who had this power to subdue the powers of tumah.
And that’s the explanation of the pasuk in Mishlei 24:16 "Sheva yipol tzadik v'kam" – seven times the tzadik falls down and gets up. By bowing down seven times, subduing the sitra achra, a tzadik is able to get up. And this is what Eisav said, not knowing that he prophesied -“yesh li rav achi” – literally, it means “I have a lot, brother". But he was saying there will be a Rav Acha who will subdue the koach of Eisav by bowing down seven times and that koach came from Yaakov.
The Panim Yafos says on the pasuk 32:29 "Vayomer lo Yaakov ye’amar od shimcha" -in Parshas Toldos, after Yaakov took away the brachos with chachma from Eisav, the pasuk says that Eisav said to his father, "Is there only one bracha to you father? Bless me as well!" And Eisav started to cry. Says the Sar Shalom from Belz: Yitzchak is gematria 8 times the shem havaya, which equals 208. Each shem havaya (yud, keh, vav, and keh) is 1 bracha. Yaakov is gematria seven times the shem havaya which equals to 182, to hint that he received seven brachos from Yitzchok. Comes out that Yitzchok still had one more bracha left, which he didn’t give to Yaakov. And this is what Eisav said to his father Yitzchok, "habracha achas", there is one more bracha that you have which you didn’t give to Yaakov; give it to me.
The reason why Yaakov bowed down at the time he saw Eisav was to subdue the seven kochos of impurity that exists within him. And he was able to do it because each bowing represents Hashem’s name, which is 26.
Just like there seven midos of kedusha, so too there are seven kochos of tuma. Just like Yaakov’s name is hinted in seven time the name of Hashem 26, so too, Eisav’s name equals 376, which is seven times the word "tame", which equals 350. But there is still 26 extra - that is because in order for anything to exist, even tuma, there has to be kedusha. And that is the extra 26 from Eisav.
And this is what Eisav was telling Yitzchak his father, even though you gave Yaakov seven brachos like the amount of his name, but there is still one-time Hashem’s name in me so at least give me one bracha. Because in order for me to exist I need some kedusha or I will cease to exist.
Now we understand - Yaakov bowed seven times until he reached his brother, meaning seven times to subdue the kochos of tuma that Eisav represents and that weakened Eisav because seven times "tame" is 350. But Eisav still had 26 left over, which represents one-time Hashem's name, in order for him to exist. This is "ad gishto ad achiv" – for a small time, he was a considered a brother to Yaakov from the tiny bit of kedusha within him, which is the shem havaya of Yitzchok's name. Yitzchak = 8 times 26. Yaakov has seven and Eisav got 1.
