This parsha is split between the blessings and the curses. Blessings for following the ethics of Torah and curses for abandoning it. The metaphor of Torah versus the sword. Living a life of peace and kindness or besieged by a life of violence and cruelty. One Midrash speaks of the meeting of the conqueror Alexander the Great and the High Priest Simon the Just before the walls of Jerusalem. Instead of killing this spiritual Hebrew, Alexander bowed before him, honoring him and the Hebrew people as a vanguard of truth and compassion. Were today’s would-be emperors to humble themselves before the empathetic wise, how our world would change.