הלל בפסח ושירת המלאכים

The Gemara comments: As Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman says that Rabbi Yonatan says: What is the meaning of that which is written in the passage describing the splitting of the Red Sea: “And the one came not near the other all the night” (Exodus 14:20)? At that time the ministering angels desired to recite a song before the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: My handiwork, i.e., the Egyptians, are drowning in the sea, and you are reciting a song before Me? Apparently, God is not gladdened by the downfall of the wicked.

And similarly, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the one came not near the other all the night” (Exodus 14:20)? The ministering angels wanted to sing their song, for the angels would sing songs to each other, as it states: “And they called out to each other and said” (Isaiah 6:3), but the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: The work of My hands, the Egyptians, are drowning at sea, and you wish to say songs? This indicates that God does not rejoice over the downfall of the wicked.

And there are those who say: The angel blew into the soldiers of the Assyrian army through their noses and they died, as it is stated: “When he blows upon them, and they wither” (Isaiah 40:24). Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba says: The angel clapped his hands to them and they died, as it is stated: “I will also strike My hands together and I will assuage My anger” (Ezekiel 21:22). Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa says: He revealed ears for them and they were able to hear the songs of praise from the mouths of the celestial creatures drawing the chariot of God, and they died, as it is stated: “From Your exaltation the nations were scattered” (Isaiah 33:3), indicating that their death was caused by the revelation of God’s greatness.

Another explanation: "And it was in the middle of the night" - David said (Psalms 77:7), "I recall my music at night:" The congregation of Israel said, "I recall the breakings, that You broke the enemies for my sake at night." And [the term], 'my music' (niginati) only means breaking, as you would say (Lamentations 3:63), "I am their song." And I [would also] say (Genesis 14:20), "who gave over (migen) your enemies into your hand." Sancheriv came against us - You broke him at night, as it is stated (II Kings 19:35), "And it was on that night and the angel of the Lord came out and he smote in the camp of Assyria." Rabbi Nechemia said, "Come and see the love of the Holy One, blessed be He for Israel; as behold, the ministering angels - who are mighty of strength, doers of His will - the Holy One, blessed be He, made them guardians over Israel. And who are they? Michael and Gavriel, as it is stated (Isaiah 62:6), 'Upon your walls Jerusalem, I have appointed guardians.' And when Sancheriv came, Michael went out and smote them; and Gavriel, from the command of the Holy One, blessed be He, saved Chanania and his friends."

All the days of Chol ha-Moed [Pesach] and the two last days of Yom Tov we say Hallel but we do not complete it, as detailed in Arachin Chapter 2 (10a). And there the reason is given for the difference during Chag [Sukkot] when we say it every day, and the difference during Pesach when we do not say it every day. The Shibbolei ha-Leket wrote in the name of Midrash Harninu in the chapter "Sukkah" that the reason that we do not complete the Hallel on all the days of Pesach is because the Egyptians were drowned and it is written, "Do not rejoice at the downfall of your enemy" [Mishlei 24:17].

Midrash Harninu: A halachic and aggadic midrash, which apparently began with the verse, "O nations, acclaim" (Harninu goyim)" [Devarim 32: 43]. This midrash is not extant and is known to us only from citations by other authors in their works.

The skipped Hallel. Because on the seventh of Pesach the Egyptians were drowned, and Hashem said, "The work of my hands is drowning in the sea and you are reciting songs." Since on the seventh we do not complete it, so too on Chol ha-Moed it is not completed, so that it [Chol ha-Moed] is not preferred over the final Yom Tov.

Now my heart whispers a fine word regarding what Tosafot wrote in Chapter 2 of Arachin on 10b about what is said there: that the angels said before Hashem, 'Why don't the Jews recite songs before you on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur?' It is understood from this language that they [the Jews] do recite songs, and thus there is no grounds to refrain from saying that the angels (Chayot) sing. Indeed it is the custom of several countries. Apparently there is reason to be more precise using the words of the Tosafot themselves in Chullin, in the Chapter "Gid ha-Nasheh," that the ministering angels do not recite songs above until the Jews recite them below. If this be so, it is not possible that the angels recite songs while the Jews do not. It has not escaped my notice that there is cause to reject this and maintain that surely if the Jews recite songs, the angels wait for them, which is not the case on days on which the Jews do not recite songs at all: if they are silent, the angels above are not silent.

...For on the seventh of Pesach the ministering angels requested to recite songs and Hashem said, "The work of my hands is drowning." ...We do not complete the Hallel on all the days of Pesach for this reason, as several of the authorities write in the name of Midrash Harninu. But there are also grounds to raise doubt about this, since Hashem did not silence the angels from reciting songs except on the night on which the Egyptians were downed in the sea. Thus we see it written, "one could not come near the other" [karav zeh el zeh - Shemot 14:20], and it is learned from a Gzera Shava (verbal analogy) that with regard to the singing of the angels it is said "one called to the other" [kara zeh el zeh - Yeshayahu 6:3]. Even though this is so, here [in the former verse] it refers to song on behalf of the redemption of Israel, and there [in the latter verse] it refers to the holiness of the day according to the context. This is not the case on the day following [the drowning of the Egyptians], when both the Jews and the angels recited songs because of the downfall of the enemy, as it is written, "then musicians, etc." [Tehillim 68:26]. Regarding how we do not complete Hallel on the days of Pesach, there is another reason and Maharil recorded it in the name of Rashi as laid out there, and it is because the days of Pesach are not distinguished by their korbanot. In any case, we do not have the power to disagree with Midrash Harninu.