Siman 169

Any food item that brings a person to distress when they are not given a taste of it while smelling its aroma—meaning that the food has a pleasant aroma or a great sharpness, and the one seeing the food before him will desire it and suffer distress and can be harmed (Rashi, Ketubot 61a)—therefore, there is an obligation upon the master of the house when the servant attending him brings him such a food and he eats it, he must immediately give the servant also a bit of the food so that he may taste of it. And so they said in the Gemara there: The general rule of the matter: anything that has an aroma and has sharpness. And Rashi explained: Aroma or sharpness harms the one before whom others are eating and he does not eat. Thus far his words. And it implies that the primary desire is when the other begins to eat and not before. And it is a measure of piety to give to him immediately from each and every type, but by the law one only needs to give him from one type, for with this his desire is quieted. And so by the law one only needs to give to him after his eating, and it is a measure of piety to give before his eating (Gemara ibid.). And it appears to me that the reason we are not careful in this now is because the servants taste for themselves in the kitchen, and furthermore, because these matters only apply to the wealthy, and with the wealthy the servants eat for themselves as they wish. However, a condition is not effective in this since the reason is because of distress (Magen Avraham, subsection 1), whereas in other matters a condition is effective.

However, one should not give food to the shamash while the cup is in the hand of the master of the house or in the hand of the shamash, as it was taught in Chullin (107b): A person should not give a piece of bread to the shamash, whether the cup is in the hand of the shamash, for perhaps while he is preoccupied with the piece of bread he will spill the cup, or whether the cup is in the hand of the master of the house, for perhaps he will look to see what he gave to the shamash and spill the cup; thus the Tur explains. Rashi, of blessed memory, explained that this refers to one of the guests, see there. And this applies only to the shamash, but the other members of the meal may give to one another even while the cup is in the hand of the master of the house, for regarding these he is not particular. And there is no difference whether he reclines with the members of his household or whether he reclines with guests, they may give to one another, for since he invited them, he is not particular regarding them. But to give to someone who is not of the company—his law is like that of the shamash. And nowadays we do not know of this, for with them the drinking of wine was a fixed part of every meal, and it is not so with us. Therefore, even if by chance we drink a little, we are not concerned about it.

It is further stated in the Gemara there, that one should not give a piece of bread to the attendant unless he knows that he has washed his hands. And it is implied from Rashi there that only regarding an attendant do we fear this, because since he is preoccupied with serving the table, he may forget to wash his hands, see there; but regarding another person we do not fear it, for why should we think such a thing about a Jewish man. However, our teacher Yonah wrote that this is the law for every person, and from this he also inferred that one should not give a person food to eat unless he knows of him that he will recite a berakhah, as our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 2. And there is one who wrote that only regarding the washing of hands must one be concerned, because he must wash his hands before he takes the piece of bread into his hand, but for "Hamotzi," behold, one must give it to him before he recites the berakhah, and after he has given it to him, if he does not recite the berakhah, what can he do (Bach). And our teacher Yonah also wrote that one may be lenient if he gives to a poor person as tzedakah, and our teacher, the Rema, cited him, and this is its explanation: that tzedakah is a mitzvah and he must give to him, and he cannot withhold the giving because of the doubt that perhaps he will not recite a berakhah, for a doubt does not override a certainty. And this is only regarding "Hamotzi," but regarding the washing of hands, behold, he must wash beforehand. And likewise, if he gives to someone as a gift and not as tzedakah, he should not give until he knows that he will recite a berakhah, and likewise if he knows for certain that the recipient will not recite a berakhah - it is forbidden even with a poor person (Magen Avraham subsection 6), and so one should instruct.

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 3: "The shamash recites the blessing 'borei peri hagafen' over every single cup they give him, because he is like one who reconsiders, but he only recites the final blessing at the end. And he does not need to recite a blessing over every single piece of bread if there is an important person at the meal, for he knows they will give him all his needs of bread (not specifically, for the same law applies to any food, and see the Taz). And if there is no important person at the meal - he must recite a blessing over every single piece of bread just as over the wine." Thus far his words. And if the intention of the shamash at the time of the first cup over which he recited the blessing was to include all the cups they would give him, he does not need to recite a blessing over every single cup, and similarly regarding the pieces of bread (ibid. subsection 7). And there is one who disagrees in this matter, and holds that his intention is of no effect since he does not know if they will give to him (Taz at the end of siman 179), and the law requires further study (Eliyah Rabbah), and at the end of siman 179 it will be explained in this matter with the help of Heaven. And our teacher, the Rema, wrote: That two who are eating together - the shamash eats with them without taking permission so that they may join together for zimun. Thus far his words, and it will be explained in the next siman.