Note 43 — II. OUR DUTIES. (continued 4)
Reading edition
A peculiar ceremony may here be noticed. Some pass the knife over the bread before the berachah is said. The origin of this custom is this: the rule has been laid down that there should not be a long interval between the berachah and the partaking of the food. The knife and the bread are therefore kept ready, and originally an incision was made into the loaf in order to shorten that interval as much as possible. ↑