In Parashat Toldot, after the Torah tells us about the birth of Yaakov and Esav, the Torah says ויגדלו הנערים, that the children grew up. And it says in Yalkut Shimoni, in יהושע רמז כ\"ג, that ועשו היה בכלל, that Esav was also included in the ויגדלו הנערים, which means Esav also grew up. אלא שקלקל במעשיו, and he spoiled it through his actions. Which means that the Yalkut Shimoni learns that when it says in the פסוק ויגדלו, it doesn't just mean that they grew up physically in age, but it also means that they grew up spiritually. And that's why it says that Esav was included, but nevertheless, he himself spoiled it for him. And to prove that the word ויגדלו also means biruchniyut, spiritually, is because in the same Yalkut Shimoni before that, it quotes the pasuk in יהושע קפיטל י\"ד פסוק ט\"ו, האדם הגדול בענקים, the man that was great amongst giants, and it uses the word gadol, so the Yalkut says, הגדול - אלו אברהם, יצחק ויעקב שנקראו גדולים, that הגדול refers to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, that they were called gedolim. So we see that the word gadol means here biruchniyut. And this is what the Yalkut is telling us, that even though ויגדלו הנערים means biruchniyut, that Esav was also a גדול ברוחניות, but nevertheless, the reason he was a rasha was because קלקל במעשיו, he spoiled it through his own actions. In the Zohar, פרשת תולדות, דף קל\"ח עמוד ב', it also says that ויגדלו הנערים means a רוחניות'דיקע גדלות, means a spiritual gedulut. Because the Zohar says, ויגדלו הנערים, סטרא דאברהם גרים לון לאתגדלא, that the side of Avraham, the zechut of Avraham, caused them to grow up, וזכותיה סייע לון, and his זכות helped them. הוא הוה מחנך לון במצות, the Zohar says, he educated them in מצוות, לאסגאה, to grow up, Yaakov v'Esav. So we see that the Zohar connects the pasuk that they grew up with the chinuch that Avraham gave them and the זכות of Avraham. So obviously, the Zohar is telling us that they grew up ברוחניות.

But the question that comes up right away is, how can we say that Esav was a גדול ברוחניות, was great in רוחניות, and the only reason he was a rasha was because later on קלקל במעשיו, he spoiled it through his own actions, בשעה we know that on the pasuk in this week's פרשה, פסוק כ\"ה, קפיטל כ\"ה פסוק כ\"ב, where the Torah says ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה, so the חז\"ל say in מדרש רבה פרשה ס\"ג ו', brought down in Rashi on the pasuk, that במעי אמן yet, while they were still in their mother's stomach, so Yaakov wanted to go out to a בית המדרש whenever Rivkah passed by the yeshivah, he wanted to go out, and whenever they passed by a בית עבודה זרה, a house of idol worship, Esav wanted to go out. And this was still while they were in the mother's stomach. So obviously, Esav, from the beginning on, was connected to עבודה זרה. Before he was even born, he had the nature of wanting to go out to עבודה זרה. So how can you say that originally he was also a גדול ברוחניות, and later on קלקל במעשיו, he spoiled it through his actions? And the truth is that the Zohar himself quotes this חז\"ל there on דף קל\"ט עמוד א'. And the same Zohar says that what is the פשט ויגדלו הנערים, that this came through the זכות and the help and the education of Avraham, which means גדלות ברוחניות. And be'emes, we don't even have to go as far as a מאמר חז\"ל on ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה, but from the pasuk itself, it seems that way. Because the pasuk says ויגדלו הנערים, they grew up, and right away the pasuk says ויהי עשו איש יודע ציד איש שדה, that Esav, when he grew up, was a person who knew how to hunt, a person of the field. Obviously, the way Esav grew up was not that he grew up as a great person b'ruchniyus. He grew up to become an איש שדה, a man of the field. So how can we say that ויגדלו הנערים means that they grew up b'ruchniyus, including Esav, and just later on Esav changed because קלקל במעשיו, he spoiled it through his actions?

On one hand, we could answer that from the fact that Esav had the nature while he was in his mother's stomach to go out to בית עבודה זרה doesn't mean that this had an effect on what happened to him later. Could be when he was born, he did not follow the teva that he had from before, and he grew up b'ruchniyus, and later on, again he changed back, and he was מקלקל במעשיו. Similar to what the Chazal say in Masechet Niddah דף ל' עמוד ב', that a child, while it's in the mother's stomach, מלמדין אותו כל התורה כולה, we teach the child the whole Torah. But when the child is born, בא מלאך וסוטרו על פיו, comes a malach, gives him a smack on the face, ומשכחו כל התורה כולה, makes him forget the whole Torah. So we see that even though while the child is in the mother's stomach, it knows the whole Torah, but when it comes out, it forgets it. The same could be here, even though when Esav was in his mother's stomach, he wanted to go out to בית עבודה זרה, but when he went out, it was forgotten from him. And therefore, we're able to say ויגדלו הנערים ברוחניות on Esav, too. But the truth is, it's hard to say that because the truth is that even though he forgets the Torah he learns, nevertheless we know that a roshem stays, a sign, a hint, something of it still remains, because otherwise, there would be no use in learning the Torah. As it says in sefarim, in the mefarshim on Ein Yaakov, there in Masechet Niddah and also in other sefarim, that the reason the malach teaches the Torah is because later on, it's easier for the person to learn Torah being that he learned it once, as we know that it's much easier to learn something that you once learned, even though you forgot it, than learning something that you never learned. So therefore, he is taught the whole Torah, even though he forgets it, because later on, it's easier to learn, which means that there is a roshem, a hint, something of it left in the child. The same thing would be here, that if in his mother's stomach, he had a teva, a nature of going to בית עבודה זרה, then this would have left a roshem on him. So then we're back to the question, it is hard to say that ויגדלו הנערים means that Esav grew up b'ruchniyus, and just later on, he was קלקל במעשיו, he spoiled it through his own action.

But to explain that, we have to first ask another question. We know what it says in Midrash, in בראשית רבה פרשה מ״ז ו׳, and also in פרשה פ״ב ו׳, that האבות הן הן המרכבה. That the merkavah, the chariot of Hashem that's in heaven, in shamayim, that is the Avos. And it says in sefarim, especially in תניא פרק כ״ג, that what does it mean? It means that the level of the Avos was so great that they were similar to a chariot. Just like a chariot is completely batal, given over, under the control of the one that rides the chariot, and it doesn't have its own ratzon, its own will, it only goes and turns and does what the rider wants it to do, the same was concerning the Avos. They had no metzius, no being of their own. They were so given over, so nullified to Hashem, that their whole being was only Hashem. They only did what Hashem wanted, and they had no ratzon, no will of their own. Now we also know that a child has from the koach ha'av, from the power, the strength of the father. And not only from the simple koach, but from the essence of the koach of the father. As it says the peshat in the מאמר חז״ל, יפה כח הבן מכח האב, that a child could be better than his father, which means if let's say the father is blind, the child could see, and the explanation given is because the koach that the child has doesn't come from the outward superficial powers of the father, it comes from the inner essence of the father. And in the etzem, in the essence of the father, he has the ability of all the kochot. It's just that when it comes out into his body, then sometimes, for some reason, a certain koach, a certain ability cannot come out to actually work, but essentially, he has all the kochot. And therefore, when the child has that koach, by him it doesn't necessarily mean that it has to also be with the same problem. But this is all because the child has from the etzem, the essence of the father. Now, in that case, how is it possible that Yitzchak Avinu who was a merkavah to Hashem, his whole being was only bitul to Hashem, how is it possible that Yitzchak should have a son like Esav? The fact that Esav later on grew up to be a rasha, that's understood, because after all, he was a baal bechirah, he had his own free choice, and he chose to be a rasha. So even though he was the son of Yitzchak and he had the koach of Yitzchak within him, nevertheless, it didn't take away his bechirah chofshit, his free choice. So he chose to do what he did, whether it was because of his environment that he lived amongst the Canaanites, or was it because he had to do with Nimrod, or whatever reason it might be, he chose to be a rasha. The question is not concerning his actions later on, but concerning his teva, his nature that was from birth. As we said before, the Chazal say that while he was still in his mother's stomach, he had a nature of going to avodah zarah, and this is something that he didn't choose, because it wasn't his maasim, it was before he even had an ability of maasim. It was a nature that was within him while he was still in his mother's stomach. Now, the question is, how is that possible? That a child of Yitzchak and Rivkah, a child that has the koach of Yitzchak and Rivkah, and not when he went out already and became a מציאות, an entity on his own, but while he was still in Rivkah'ss stomach, which means he was still connected to his mother Rivkah, how is it that at that time, he had a nature from birth to go to avodah zarah, to be a rasha? But the explanation to this is, we know that מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, that whatever happened to the Avot, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov was a סימן, a sign to the children. And it doesn't only mean that it was a sign what's going to happen to Klal Yisrael later on, but the koach that Klal Yisrael has later on to serve Hashem and to do the different things that they're supposed to do, the koach they get from the אבות. Which means that we find everything in the אבות in one way or another, and later on it expressed itself in the avodah of Klal Yisrael.

Now according to that, we have to understand. The Rambam says in, in Shemoneh Perakim, in פרק ו, that there are two ways, two general ways, two categories of people serving Hashem. One category he calls החסיד המעולה, which means a person who from the beginning, l'chatchilah, does not have any desire to do evil. He has a desire only to do good. And a different category which he calls הכובש את יצרו, someone who has to conquer, overcome his yetzer hara. It's a person who is mitaveh, as he says, who desires אל הפעולות הרעות, to evil actions, and he is כובש את יצרו, he conquers, he overcomes his yetzer hara. Now since we say that everything that we have by the banim, by Klal Yisrael, has a source within the Avot, because מעשה אבות סימן לבנים. Now, since the Avot were הן הן המרכבה, they were completely batel to Hashem, so where do we find within the Avot the סימן לבנים to the avodah of a כובש את יצרו, of somebody who has to conquer his yetzer hara? Since the Avot did not have to conquer the yetzer hara, they were definitely in the category of a חסיד המעולה, a person who only wants to do good, so where do we find within the Avot this concept of a סימן לבנים to the כובש את יצרו? And the question goes even further. A כובש את יצרו, at least doesn't do anything bad. A כובש את יצרו just has the potential of doing evil, and he has to overcome his yetzer hara. But in truth, b'foal, actually, he is only יעשה הטובות, as the Rambam says, only does good. The question is, we find another category in Klal Yisrael, and that is the category of a baal teshuvah, a person who actually did bad, did an aveirah, and he does teshuvah and returns to Hashem. He has to fix his מעשה בלתי טוב, he has to change the action that was actually not good and change that to good. Where do we find within the Avot the concept of a baal teshuvah? And since everything has to have a source within the Avot, so where do we find within the Avot this inyan, the koach to the avodah of a כובש את יצרו, and certainly where do we find the koach to the avodah of a baal teshuvah?

And the answer is that what is the difference between a baal teshuvah or a כובש את יצרו and a חסיד המעולה? The difference is in how strong his koach is to serve Hashem, which means how much gevurah he has concerning serving Hashem. A חסיד המעולה doesn't have to use too much koach, because he doesn't have a yetzer hara to begin with. A כובש את יצרו has to use a stronger koach of his neshamah or of his yetzer tov to overcome his yetzer hara. A בעל תשובה certainly has to use a strong koach of his neshamah, of his yetzer tov, because not only does he have to overcome a desire of his yetzer hara, he has to actually overcome a מעשה לא טוב, a bad action that he did. So actually, the difference between the חסיד המעולה and a כובש את יצרו and a בעל תשובה is not in what they do, but it is only in how much koach they have to express from their yetzer tov, from the neshamah. Now if that's the pshat, the Avos also expressed a very strong koach in order to do what they did. Because as we know they had a lot of problems, a lot of hardships, not from their own yetzer hara, but they had a lot of hardships from the outside, as we know from the Chazal concerning Avraham and Yitzchak, and also concerning Yaakov. So for them to do what they did, they also had to use a very strong koach of their neshamah. So even though they didn't have to use it in order to overcome the yetzer hara, or to overcome the aveirah, but they still had to use extra strength in order to overcome their hardships. And this is the koach, the source to the avodah of a Yid who has to use extra koach of his neshamah to overcome his yetzer hara, or to overcome the aveirah that he did already. But in essence, it's the same thing, and this is the source of this avodah in the Avos. But nevertheless, even though within the Avos it didn't actually come out that they had to overcome the yetzer hara, but nevertheless, being that they showed this power, it expressed itself in their children. And this is why Yitzchak had two children, one child Yaakov, and one child Esav. Yaakov, he was the expression of Yitzchak's avodah as a חסיד המעולה, and therefore he had a son who didn't have to overcome his yetzer hara, he was a level of a חסיד המעולה, and he had another son that had a teva to do bad, and he had the power to overcome his yetzer hara. So the reason that his teva was to go to avodah zarah was not because it was a teva in itself. The reason was because since Yitzchak had this extra koach too, to overcome hardships, which is the source of the avodah of כובש את יצרו from the later generations, or the source of a baal teshuvah from later generations, so therefore he had a son which had that koach. He had a son who had the teva of a yetzer hara, and he was given the koach to overcome his yetzer hara, which came as a result of the fact that Yitzchak had the koach of overcoming hardships. So really, the reason Esav was born with this teva is because this was supposed to be a כובש את יצרו, a person who was going to conquer his yetzer hara. So this answers the question we asked before. How is it possible that Yitzchak, who was a מרכבה to Hashem and that no evil within him, should have a son who has an evil nature, was because his son was supposed to be the source of the avodah of כובש את יצרו. But still, bechirah was not taken away from him, the free choice was not taken away, and therefore he chose not to overcome his yetzer hara. And this is the explanation how these two things fit. How on one hand we say that in his mother's stomach yet he had the nature of going to בית עבודה זרה, and at the same time we say he grew up b'ruchniyut, and just later on קלקל במעשיו, he spoiled it through his own actions. Because l'chatchilah in his mother's stomach he had the nature of evil, because he was supposed to be the one that would be כובש את יצרו, or the one that would be the koach to the later generations to the avodah of teshuvah, and therefore he had this nature. When he came out, in the beginning takeh he was a כובש את יצרו, he did conquer his yetzer hara, and therefore we're able to say ויגדלו הנערים, that they grew up b'ruchniyut, including Esav, he also grew up b'ruchniyut. But then later קלקל במעשיו, he spoiled it through his own actions because later he chose not to overcome his yetzer hara, and therefore he became the rasha as he was. And this is also the pshat in the words right after that, ויהי עשו איש יודע ציד איש שדה, that Esav had a potential and had the urge of being a יודע ציד איש שדה, but he had the koach to overcome it, and later on he chose not to overcome it.