Can People Sitting at Separate Tables Join Together for a Zimun?

The Shulchan Aruch writes that if people are seated at different tables, they can nevertheless join together to form a Zimun if two conditions are met: they can see each other, and they intended to eat together. As long as these two conditions are met, they can form a Zimun even though they sit at separate tables. The Shulchan Aruch adds that even if they cannot see each other, they can join together for a Zimun if they share the same waiter, who is Jewish. If the same waiter serves the people at both tables, then even if they cannot see each other, they join together for a Zimun if they planned to eat together. Chacham Ovadia Yosef adds that if there are fewer than ten people, then they can recite a Zimun even if they did not plan to eat together. As long as they can see each other and they ate at the same time, they can recite a Zimun. When fewer than ten people recite a Zimun, Hashem’s Name is not mentioned, and so there is greater room for leniency. As such, people can join together even if they sit at separate tables and did not plan on eating together, as long as they ate at the same time – either at the beginning or at the end – and they can see each other (or have the same waiter). Chacham Bension Abba Shaul ruled that when it is obvious that a group of people intended to eat together, this does not have to be explicitly stated for a Zimun to be recited. At a wedding, for example, it is obvious that the guests all intend to eat together in the banquet hall. Therefore, they all join together for a Zimun – with Hashem’s Name, as they are more than ten people – even though they did not say explicitly that they planned to eat together. Another example, as noted by the Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss is a yeshiva dining room, where the students eat meals. Since it is clear that they plan to eat together in the dining room, they all join together for a Zimun even though they did not specifically plan to eat together.