Chayei Sarah - Middos
We find at the end of the Parsha Avraham marries Keturah who Rashi identifies as Hagar. She was called Keturah because שמעשיה נאים כקטורת. This may be understood as we find one of the ingredients of the ketores was an independently unpleasant spice; the חלבנה. However, together with the other 10 spices he totality of the kitores had an irresistible aroma. So too, the negative aspects of Hagar, upon her return from Egypt to Avraham and his holy ways, were now enhancing the totality of her deeds as her teshuvah reversed her past and she even no carried a new name as the Rambam states in hilchos teshuvah.
However there is something important to note. Even after her return, we still find that all of her offspring did not amount to much. The medrash relates that Avraham even built an iron city for some of them, within which sunlight never shined and he gave over to them the secrets of black magic! What happened to all of Hagar's children?
I believe that this is because only מעשיה נאים . Her deeds were now all good, but her middos remained rooted and were never changed completely or perfected. Like Rashi said last week’s parsha referring to Hagar's return to Egypt, that a thrown branch, returns to its root. The perfection of character to the extent that it becomes part of the person's dna, can have an eternal effect upon his future generations. It is regarding those middos that we call our Avos exactly that - Avos that transfer their character to their offspring. But just because someone has good deeds, that doesn't transfer to the next generation. Only Middos.
Let's get working. ;-)