In parashat Beshallah, the Israelites stand before the Sea of Reeds, and the Egyptian are on their heels. The sea parts, and the Israelites march through the sea on dry ground, while the Egyptians drown. “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said: I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.” In this song that we recite every morning in our prayers, we recall one of the formative moments in our nation’s history. On this event, the midrash says:

R. Yohanan said: The angels wanted to sing before God on that night that Israel crossed the sea, but God did not allow it. He said to them: My legions are in danger and you wish to sing before me? (Exodus Raba (Vilna) 23).

It would appear that when the Israelites stood on the banks of the sea, God’s heavenly legions – the angels – wished to praise Him, but He silenced them because His earthly legions – the Israelites – were in danger. God’s response to the angels also echoes His response to Moses: “Why do you cry out to Me?” (14:15). But although an examination of this midrash seems to indicate that the subject of the midrash is Israel’s plight before the parting of the sea, we find the following in the Talmud:

Does God rejoice at the downfall of the wicked? It says: “as they went before the army, and say: Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures for ever" (II Chronicles 20:21). And R. Yohanan said: Why does it not say “for He is good” in this thanks? [i.e., why does it not say “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever” [as, e.g., in Psalm 106:1]? Because God does not rejoice at the downfall of the wicked. And R. Yohanan said: Why does it say “so that the one could not come near the other all through the night” (Exodus 14:20)? The ministering angels wanted to sing [like “one called to the other” in Isaiah 6:3], but God said: My creations are drowning in the sea and you wish to sing? (BT Megilla 10b).

Similarly, R. Aaron b. Jacob Hakohen of Narbonne (d. 1330) wrote in his book Kol Bo (sec. 52):

Why do we not read [the full Hallel] without skipping on the final days of Passover, as we do on the first days of Passover itself…because Pharaoh and all his army drowned in the sea on that day, and as the Sages said: The ministering angels wanted to sing before God, but he replied: My creations are drowning in the sea and you wish to sing before me? Therefore, we do not say it without skipping.

This reasoning is also employed to explain why there is no blessing for fulfilling the commandment to read parashat Zachor (Deut. 25), and why we spill wine from our cups at the Passover seder.

1. What did the author of the midrash wish to teach us? Why did the Sages change the focus of the midrash from the plight of the Israelites to that of the Egyptians? What did they wish to teach us about God?

2. If the angels were not permitted to sing before the parting of the sea, why were Moses and the Israelites permitted to sing afterwards?

3. If we do not say the full Hallel on the last days of Passover because of the death of the Egyptians, why do we say the full Hallel on all eight days of Hanukkah, which also celebrates the defeat of Israel’s enemy?

4. What is the purpose of prayer? Are we meant to infer from the Talmud that we are not permitted to pray for the defeat of our enemies, but we may give thanks for their destruction?