[Avodah] The Difference Between Idolatry and Moral Degeneracy

[Yitzchok Levine]

On the Pasuk Bereishis 24

4 But you shall go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife 
for my son, for Yitzchak.

RSRH writes

Lib'ni l'Yitzchok. Eliezer is to be guided by two considerations: 
First, Lib'ni;
she should be worthy of being the wife of my son; she should justify
my hope that she will become my daughter even as he is my son. This
is the general requirement regarding her character. But two people can
each be of the most excellent character and still be incompatible. Hence,
l'Yitzchok; Eliezer should make sure that the woman is compatible with
Yitzchak's individual character.

Avraham rejected the daughters of Canaan, preferring an Aramean
woman for his son. Let us bear in mind, though, that the Arameans,
too, were idolaters. Thus, the reason for Avraham's decision was not
the idolatry of the Canaanites, but their moral degeneracy.

Idolatry is basically an intellectual error, and that can be corrected.
Moral degeneracy, however, takes hold of the whole individual, heart
and soul. Hence, even a man such as Avraham could not hope to find
among the Canaanites a modest, morally pure woman as a wife for his
son, a woman who would bring with her a nobility of spirit and the
purity of morality, as a pearl for his home. 
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