Dvar for Chaye Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18)
Avraham summons his servant Eliezer, the elder of his house and ruler of all of Avraham’s possessions (24:2), to find a suitable wife for his son Yitzchak. Why do we need to know about Eliezer’s control of Avraham’s fiscal matters when that hardly seems relevant to the task at hand?
The Kli Yakar explains that Eliezer’s greatest attribute was not allowing possessions to control or influence him. Eliezer was consistently fair-minded and would not be lured by gifts from prospective suitors for Yitzchak. This mastery of material possessions is a quality that would serve us all well. As long as our world keeps inventing new and distracting toys and devices, we must be careful not to allow them to distract us from or diminish our values, and remain steadfast in our grand pursuits.