And now we return to our discussion, that there is no place for song except at a time and in a manner where joy, which is its mother, bursts forth from the heart on its own. It seems one may ask, why did the Children of Israel themselves sing the Song of the Sea and not fear that the works of God's hands were drowning in the sea? And simply put, we can say that the person who experienced the miracle is different from the one who stands on the side and observes it. The one who experienced the miracle, who was pursued by the enemy who hunted his soul to take it, and the enemy's drowning in the sea is the very miracle of his salvation and the kindness of God bestowed upon him—certainly, the fact that this enemy is the work of God's hands does not detract even slightly from the completeness of his joy. Only to the angels, who observed the event as bystanders, and their request to sing was on account of the greatness of the Creator reflected in this great sight, did the word of God come and say: "The works of My hands are drowning in the sea, and you are singing?" For those standing on the side, the drowning of God's works in the sea indeed gives a reason to diminish the completeness of the joy required for the song. And thus, on the seventh and eighth days of Pesach, when we come to recite Hallel as bystanders, since we were not ourselves in that miracle—it is fitting to heed the claim that "the works of My hands are drowning in the sea" to prevent us from doing so.

This is what can be distinguished in a straightforward manner. Indeed, according to our approach that song belongs only to a spontaneous outburst of joy, there is a distinction here between the ministering angels and Israel in the essence of the motivation for the song. The language of our sages regarding the awakening of the ministering angels to sing is: "The ministering angels sought to sing," and it seems that they carefully and deliberately used this language to indicate that it was an intellectual awakening, as it were, an awakening of understanding, in whole or in part, not of pure emotional exuberance. For "seeking" means, either desire or asking permission, and both have no place when the heart's emotions burst forth and overflow on their own... Therefore, since they "sought," through intellectual consideration and reflection, the Holy One, blessed be He, responded to them in kind and said, if it is so, that is, if you think logically and reasonably that there is a reason to sing, there is also a reason to refrain from it—"The works of My hands are drowning in the sea, and you are singing?"

But Israel, whose awakening to sing was from the heart, from an outburst of joyful emotions that overflowed from it and turned into a flowing spring of song and praise, in the sense of "it came upon his heart to sing," without leaving room for any consideration of calculation and reasoning—to them the Holy One, blessed be He, said nothing, for this true song, which does not stem from intellectual calculations, cannot be silenced with intellectual arguments. Therefore, on the seventh and eighth days of Pesach, when we, like the angels, do not come to say Hallel from a spontaneous outburst of emotions, but due to the law and the decree of the sages, the claim that "the works of My hands are drowning in the sea" is fitting to prevent us from doing so.

And I saw further in the words of Maran, the head of the yeshiva of blessed memory, who was troubled by what is said in the Gemara (Berachot 10a) that King David saw the downfall of the wicked and sang, as it is said (Psalms 104:35): "Let sins cease from the earth, and the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul, Hallelujah." It is difficult, for how could he sing—the works of God's hands are complete and perishing, and you are singing? However, according to our approach, not only is it not difficult at all, but on the contrary, we have proof from here that David's song stemmed from the overflow of the heart's emotions, not from calculation and reasoning, and as we said, such a song cannot be silenced by intellectual argument.