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good qualities and exemplary middot that personified Avraham Avinu.
Middot are what carries us through to perfection.

Eisav thought that it was enough to marry ‘family,’ and mistakenly
believed that he was fulfilling Yitzchak’s will by marrying his uncle’s
daughter. His distance from Torah and his tainted middot led him astray.
He did not want a wife who would tell him right from wrong.

Yaakov did not ask Lavan for his consent to marry both Rachel and Leah.
He wanted his brother to have the opportunity to marry a righteous girl
who would set him on the right path. This teaches us that we can appraise
someone according to their middot, much more than by their sharp minds
or quick wit. One who learns Torah, despite material or spiritual poverty,
will one day merit to learn amidst wealth. Yitzchak hoped that by blessing
Eisav, this maxim would be fulfilled and he would draw him close and
bring him to repentance.

The simchah we have on Rosh Hashanah is the opportunity we have to
do teshuvah and return to a level that Adam Harishon had on his
‘birthday.’ Lack of good middot is what caused the original sin, and makes
a distance between us and Hashem. The most important quality to look
for in a spouse is his or her good middot.
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