Netilas Yadayim - Hefsek

QUESTION: I just washed my hands (“netilas yadayim”) but have not yet recited the beracha. Someone nearby also just washed and said the beracha. Should I answer Amen, or will that create a hefsek (interruption) between my washing and reciting my beracha?

ANSWER: Rav Ovadya Yosef zt”l (Yabia Omer OC 8:20) discusses this question. He cites the Noda BiYehuda who writes that as soon as you wash your hands it is forbidden to talk. The Noda BiYehuda writes that he has seen many learned people make this mistake. They think that they can continue talking until reciting the beracha, but this is not correct. As soon as you wash your hands, you may not talk until you recite Hamotzi. Rav Ovadya Yosef disagrees in part with the Noda BiYehuda. Though he agrees that one cannot continue talking after washing netilas yadayim, he explains that answering Amen, which is obligatory, is different. According to Rav Ovadya Yosef, the only time it is forbidden to even answer Amen is during the interval after reciting the beracha of netilas yadayim and before drying your hands. Once the beracha is recited, you may not interrupt at all until drying your hands which is the completion of the mitzvah. However, before you recite the beracha, or after you complete drying your hands, you may answer Amen.

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