374. The child, his son, opened the discussion with the verse: "Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them..." (Bemidbar 27:3). There is a cantilation mark above "Our father," MEANING 'ZARKA,' WHOSE MUSICAL NOTATION lengthens the pronunciation of the word. Aha, devout holy ones, how much the pain is drawn out when reading "Our father." There is no pain or hurt of the spirit and soul, except when it is read like that, "Our father," when it is hurting from the heart. "Died in the wilderness:" HE ASKS, Did not others die in the wilderness? Why is he marked by saying that he died in the wilderness? There were thousands and tens of thousands that died in the wilderness.

379. The child said, I am returning to the earlier topic, to talk about this pausal note, MEANING THE 'ZARKA', THAT IS ON THE WORD OF "OUR FATHER" IN, "Our father died in the wilderness." ITS SHAPE is comparable to a snake that hangs on his back and pulls his tail into his mouth. AND THIS DRAWING THAT IS on the musical note OF ZARKA that is drawn over THE WORD "OUR FATHER," CAUSED ZELOPHEHAD TO die "in the wilderness" through the words of his own mouth. The child hurried up quickly and held on to the back of the neck of his father, cried and said, This Zelophehad died through talking and you, my father, returned to this world through talking, MEANING THROUGH THE WORDS AND TEARS OF THE CHILD. His father hugged and kissed him again. Rabbi Elazar and the friends all cried, and the father cried along with them. They all took him and kissed him all over his lips, over his head and over his eyes, and his father was crying with him.

380. Rabbi Elazar said to him, My son, since you spoke about this matter, SAY, What is the meaning of: "But he died in his own sin?" The child said, Father, THEY ASK WHY one word, "HE DIED," was not enough for them. WHAT WAS THE NEED FOR THEM TO SAY THAT HE DIED IN THE DESERT AND ALSO THAT HE DIED BECAUSE OF HIS SIN? IT IS ONLY that IN THE DEPICTION OF THE ZARKA THAT IS OVER THE WORD "OUR FATHER," the snake that was wrapped around his tail above, lengthens the pronunciation. THEREFORE, IT IS WRITTEN: "In his own sin." What is "in his own sin?" It is in the sin of that snake. What is it? It is the speech in his mouth THAT HE SPOKE AGAINST MOSES. The reason "But he died in his own sin" extends from the snake that is wrapped around its tail, SINCE HE DREW THE POWER OF DEFILEMENT FROM THAT PRIMORDIAL SNAKE BY SPEAKING AGAINST MOSES. That is certainly "his own sin."