Siman 166

After drying the hands well, one should immediately recite the blessing of 'Hamotzi' and should not pause for a long time even in silence, and certainly not with speech. Even to speak words of Torah is forbidden, as we say in Berakhot (42a): "Immediately following the washing of hands is the blessing," and we further say there (52b): "Immediately following the washing of hands is the meal." However, there are some of our teachers who said that one need not be careful regarding pausing for a long time in silence between the washing of hands and 'Hamotzi', provided that one does not divert his mind, for that which they said "immediately following the washing of hands is the blessing" refers there specifically to mayim acharonim, and that which they said "immediately following the washing of hands is the meal," the intention there is that one should not pause with another action or with speech, for this leads to a diversion of the mind, but a pause in silence is permitted. The Tur wrote that this is the opinion of the Rif and the Rambam as well, and the opinion of our teacher, the Beit Yosef, inclines toward this, as he wrote: "There are those who say that one need not be careful regarding pausing between washing and 'Hamotzi', and there are those who say that one must be careful, and it is good to be careful" thus far his words; behold, he wrote only that it is good to be careful, but his primary opinion is that one need not be careful. But to speak—it is certainly forbidden, unless it is for the needs of the meal, such as to bring salt as will be explained (16), and certainly to perform some action such as to dilute the cup with hot water and the like—it is forbidden (Magen Avraham). And there are those who distinguish regarding the prohibition of pausing between a weekday and Shabbat, for on a weekday one should not pause lest he divert his mind and go away and not eat at all, and therefore even to pause in silence is not proper, but on Shabbat it is permitted because he is compelled to eat, and therefore even if he wants to wash his hands and perform Kiddush it is also permitted (ibid.), and in the Yerushalmi (chapter Elu Devarim, halacha 2) it implies like the first opinion, see there.

Our teacher, the Rema, wrote that if one delayed for the time it takes to walk twenty-two amot, it is called an interruption. Thus far his words. This is from the words of the Tosafot in Sotah (39a), who derived this from "immediately following the semikhah is the shehitah," for they said in Zevachim (33a) that regarding the asham of a metzora it was impossible for this to be so because it is forbidden for a metzora to stand there, and he would stand at a distance of twenty-two amot, see there. From this it is proven that such a measure is not called "immediately." It is possible that even less than this is not called "immediately," but this measure is certainly not "immediately," and so it implies in Zevachim there (see Magen Avraham subsection 3, and his difficulty is answered; so wrote the Bekhor Shor), and certainly it is so, just like "immediately following redemption is prayer." The truth is that everything is according to the matter, and in a thing where there is a need, it is not considered an interruption. For example, if the place of the washing is far from the place of the eating, even more than twenty-two amot, it is not called an interruption since this is necessary for the matter. An interruption is only called such when one delays and does not need to delay, and this is the intention of our teacher, the Rema. You should know that it is so, for behold, in the previous siman it was explained that the greatest person washes his hands first and waits for "Hamotzi" for all those reclining and will delay a long time; rather, certainly anything that pertains to the matter is not called an interruption at all. I have seen one who is meticulous that the place of washing be near the table for this reason, but it is not the primary view at all. The primary view is as I wrote, and the washing can be far from the place of eating, and so is the primary law (and according to our words, all that they stammered about regarding this is settled well, and delve into it). There are those who wrote that it is permitted to say the psalm "The Lord is my shepherd" between the washing and "Hamotzi," but Heaven forbid one should do so (see Magen Avraham, how he became entangled in subsection 2 regarding the matter of washing last, see there subsection 2; and I wonder what difference there is between a great person and a small person—is a small person then permitted to interrupt? However, according to what I wrote, there is no interruption at all in that which is necessary, and delve into it).