Beth Shammai say: the house is swept [The place where they ate is swept of crumbs], and then the hands are washed [for grace. For sometimes the waiter is an am ha'aretz and leaves over olive-size food particles; and if you say that the hands are washed first, food will be spoiled. For the waters of this latter washing will drip upon them and "sully" them.] And Beth Hillel say: The hands are washed and then the house is swept. [Beth Hillel hold that it is forbidden to employ a waiter who is an am ha'aretz; and a waiter who is a talmid chacham (a Torah scholar) will not leave over olive-size food particles, but will remove them. And if the water drips upon particles less than the size of an olive, there is no cause for concern. For such particles may be voided to being with. The halachah in this instance is in accordance with Beth Shammai, it being permitted to employ a waiter who is an am ha'aretz.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
בית שמאי אומרים: מכבדין את הבית – A place where they ate [a meal], we put the room in order (i.e. clean it/sweep it} from the remnants of the food that became crumbled on it, and afterwards, we wash our hands with מים אחרונים/The Latter Waters, since there are times when the attendant is an עם ארץ/ignoramus (and someone not necessarily punctilious in the separation of tithe) and he leaves the crumbs of an olive’s bulk there, and if one says that one should wash one’s hands first, you might lose the foods from the “Latter Waters/מים אחרונים” that spray on them and become detestable. The School of Hillel holds that it is prohibited to use an attendant who is an ignoramus (of Jewish law, especially, the laws of ritual purity), since an attendant who is a Torah scholar would not leave crumbs of an olive’s bulk, but would remove them, and if the water ( מים האחרונים) sprays upon the crumbs, it is meaningless, since those crumbs do not add up to an olive’s bulk, it is permitted to get rid of them with one’s hand. But the Halakha is in accordance with the School of Shammai in that it is permissible to use an attendant who is an ignoramus.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Introduction Today’s mishnah contains a debate concerning cleaning up after the meal.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Bet Shammai says: [after the meal] they sweep the floor and then they wash their hands. But Bet Hillel says: they wash their hands and then they sweep the floor. According to Bet Shammai first they sweep the floor to gather up all the crumbs that might have fallen during the meal. Evidently these crumbs would be eaten. Food was quite scarce in those times and when we take into consideration how much work they had to put into making bread, it is no wonder that they didn’t want to waste anything, even a small amount of food. Only after sweeping up the crumbs would they wash their hands. This would prevent the crumbs from being ruined by the water. Bet Hillel holds that the first thing they should do is wash their hands so that they can bless and say Birkat Hamazon immediately. In the time of the mishnah it was considered mandatory to wash one’s hands before reciting Birkat Hamazon. Many Jews still observe this law on Shabbat and holidays. According to the Talmud the servant would pick up all the pieces of significant size (more than an olive’s worth) before they would wash their hands so that those pieces could be saved. It seems that to Bet Hillel it was important that they shouldn’t delay Birkat Hamazon any more than is absolutely necessary.
