This morning at Tefila, we skipped two paragraphs in Hallel, just as we do on every Rosh Chodesh and during Pesach after the first two days. The question is why do we skip those two paragraphs?
The Gemara tells us that the reason we do this is in order to differentiate those days on which we are obligated to say Hallel from those that it is just customary.
Rosh Chodesh is recorded in the Gemara as a time when we say Hallel as a custom.
The entire holiday of Pesach is really just a single holiday that lasts for seven days. There is one holiness that is spread throughout the entire holiday. During Sukkot, however, each day has its own, distinct holiness. Therefore, the Rabbis instituted an obligation to say Hallel to celebrate each holiness.
I think that we skip these parts on Rosh Chodesh like we would on the last six days of Pesach for a similar reason, that we feel sorry for the Egyptians during the Yetzias Mitzrayim. On Pesach, we are sad about the Egyptians in the sea. Rosh Chodesh was given as a Mitzvah right in the midst of Makas Bechoros, and we feel a little bit sad for the Egyptians that Hashem killed all of their first-born sons.
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