Baba Basra 91b - Woe to the Ship that Lost its Captain

אותו היום שנפטר אברהם אבינו מן העולם עמדו כל גדולי אומות העולם בשורה, ואמרו אוי לו לעולם שאבד מנהיגו ואוי לה לספינה שאבד שאבד קברינטא

Avrohom Avinu accomplished 2 things. First, he managed to turn a pagan world into a monotheistic one. This is described by the Rambam in detail (hilchos avoda zara chapter 1). The kesef mishne explains that avrohom made an effort to not only practice himself, but preach his practices to others. This was very different than the practices of sheim and eiver who would keep to themselves and only teach those who walked into their beis midrash. Avrohom was more involved in outreach as the Rambam describes his travels from place to place to debate and undermine the pagan beliefs. The Chasam sofer (teshuvos - hakdoma to y.d. called pisuchei cho'sam) points out that this approach earned Avrohom the title of אברהם אוהבי, because one who truly loves and cares about another, isn't content with his own service but wants others to also do good for their beloved. Similarly, Avrohom showed his love for Hashem by trying to convince the world to love Hashem, therefore the k'mayim panim el panim, Hashem in turn considered Avrohom his beloved. The second characteristic of Avrohom was his chessed. His display of kindness to others. The bridge between these two ideas is the gemara in Sotah 10b that says that Avrohom would invite guests and provide their physical needs. When they tried to thank Avrohom, he responded by turning their attention to the true provider - Hashem (Maharatz chiyus says that this gemara is actually the source of the Rambam mentioned above). These 2 characteristics of Avrohom weren't separate from one another, rather they fully complimented and strengthened one another. R' Yakov Kamintezky points out at the beginning of parshas Toldos that Avrohom exemplified chessed. This midah came from his awareness of the chessed that Hashem displayed in the world. The chessed of Avrohom came as a direct result of recognizing the existence of Hashem, thereby emulating the chessed of Hashem. It was through this chessed that Avrohom successfully brought others under the wings of the shechinah. He introduced them to his chessed teacher - Hashem.

The maharsha in our gemara explains that the eulogy offered by the goyim about Avrohom was 2 things. First, he was the "manhig" of this world. Why? Because he introduced the world to their Creator who is the ultimate manhig and controls the world. Secondly, he was the Captain of the ship. The captain keeps the ship from veering to the sides. Avrohom was the captain of the moral ship, showing the ways of chessed to the entire world. The nations of the world said both eulogies for Avrohom together, because they recognized as R' Yakov explained that the 2 midos of Avrohom are really one in the same.