The Chebiner Rav zt'l gave the following counsel for those seeking a kallah for their sons: "Look for three things: middos, middos, and middos." Chazal (Taanis 24.) teach, בדיקה צריך אין גופה כל יפות שעיניה כלה כל, when a bride has beautiful eyes, that is a sign she is beautiful all over. The Kli Yakar asks (1) it isn't always so. Some women have beautiful eyes but are otherwise not beautiful. (2) Why does the Gemara teach us this?
"Certainly, the Gemara is teaching us how to check a girl's deeds. The counsel is to check whether she has good eyes, which means whether she does gemilus chasadim. If she has a good eye towards others (she cares and helps others), she is without doubt perfect in all her middos. Chazal learned this from Eliezer, who only checked Rivkah in this attribute. If she has this attribute [doing kindness for others], she certainly has all other good middos, too."
The commentaries ask, why didn’t Avraham, himself, seek a shidduch for Yitzchak? The Abarbanel and others explain that it is because Avraham was old. As the story begins with the words (24:1), בא זקן ואברהם בימים, that Avraham was old. The Haamek Davar adds another explanation. "Avraham was kept very busy by the people who came to him. One person came to ask a question about emunah. Another asked that Avraham should pray for him. As the Gemara (Bava Basra 16:) states, 'A diamond hung on Avraham's neck; whoever saw it was healed.' This refers to Avraham's blessings and tefillos [which came forth from Avraham's neck]. Similarly, many things were dependent on Avraham, so he wasn't able to leave." This is the meaning of the words את ברך 'ה בכל אברהם: Hashem blessed Avraham with the ability to help everyone, so he had to remain home. This demonstrates Avraham's outstanding trait of chesed, the attribute to which he devoted his life. This is why Eliezer sought a woman who performed gemilus chasadim, as Rashi writes (24:14), לו היא ראויה אברהם של בביתו ליכנס וכדאי חסדים גומלת שתהא, "She is fitting for Yitzchak because she performs gemilus chasadim. She is fitting to enter the home of Avraham."
It was because of these and her other wondrous deeds of chesed that Rivkah was chosen to be Yitzchak's wife.
