Why do they ask their mothers, and not their fathers?
Ibn Ezra: The mothers nurse them.
Is this connected to the previous verse?
Rav Sadya Gaon: Yes - verse 11 applies especially when infants ask their mothers for grain and wine 1 .
Do infants drink wine?! Perhaps this refers to grape juice. (PF)
Did they literally faint in the street?
R. Avigdor citing Eichah Rabah 2:16: Yes. A case occurred in which a woman sent her husband to buy food to sustain their family. He did not find food in the market; he quivered and died. She sent her older son to see what happened to her husband. He found him dead, and fainted and died 1 .
Eichah Rabah 2:16: Her infant wanted to nurse, but there was no milk - he quivered and died.
What is "El Cheik Imosam"?
Rav Sadya Gaon: It is b'Cheik Imosam (in their bosoms).
Refer to 2:12:3:1*.
