דברים, פרק כ״ח, פסוק ל״ב

The ultimate agony described in these curses falls upon parents who are forced to witness the loss of their children, leaving them in a state of endless, hopeless waiting and complete powerlessness. The primary approach among commentators is that the children are taken into captivity, forced into slavery, or sent away to labor in distant, foreign lands. The parents are left to stand by and watch as their sons and daughters are led away [ביאור יש״ר, ביאור שטיינזלץ, בכור שור].

Alongside this understanding, another tradition interprets the children being handed over to outsiders as a painful metaphor for a cruel stepmother taking control over the children of a deceased first wife. In this view, the reference to a foreign nation simply means another person, or reflects the idea that women can be categorized as a distinct group. This interpretation points to a uniquely severe curse, rooted in the intense cruelty and resentment a stepmother might direct toward her husband's children [תורה תמימה, חזקוני, בכור שור].

Separated from their children, the parents are consumed by a deep, desperate longing of the soul [אבן עזרא, חזקוני, אבי עזר]. They wait in agonizing anticipation, constantly hoping for a reunion. However, this hope proves false, and the children never come back. This prolonged, unfulfilled expectation physically and emotionally exhausts the parents, representing the tragic reality of eyes that fail from waiting for a return that never happens [רש״י, ביאור יש״ר, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Ultimately, the parents are left in a state of absolute helplessness, completely unable to save their children [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. While some explain this condition as the physical ability to act being entirely distanced from their grasp [ביאור יש״ר], others emphasize a deeper lack of capability. The parents are entirely drained of the fundamental strength required to intervene, fix the situation, or change their tragic reality [הכתב והקבלה].