“The tradition of the elders”
Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially… there are many other traditions for them to observe, including the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and couches for dining. (Mark 7:1–5 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A hygiene complaint: the disciples had dirty hands.
The cultural key
Nothing to do with germs. Ritual handwashing before bread was part of the 'tradition of the elders,' the growing body of oral rulings built as a protective fence around the written Torah. The Pharisaic program extended priestly purity rules (which Torah required only of priests serving in the temple) to every layman's table, making each meal an act of temple-like holiness. Written Torah nowhere requires it of ordinary eaters, which is exactly the ground Jesus fights on. Mark pauses to explain the customs at length (7:3–4), a footnote Matthew's Jewish readers did not need; the explanation itself is evidence of Mark's Gentile audience. The dispute then runs the same course: God's command versus human tradition, and purity relocated to the heart.
Recovered meaning
The charge is 'your disciples reject our authoritative interpretation,' not 'they're unhygienic.' Jesus' counterattack distinguishes God's command from human tradition, and relocates purity from the hands to the heart ('what comes out of the mouth… defiles').