א"ר חנינא בר פפא כל הנהנה מן העוה"ז בלא ברכה כאילו גוזל להקב"ה וכנסת ישראל שנא' (משלי כח, כד) גוזל אביו ואמו ואומר אין פשע חבר הוא לאיש משחית ואין אביו אלא הקב"ה שנא' (דברים לב, ו) הלא הוא אביך קנך ואין אמו אלא כנסת ישראל שנא' (משלי א, ח) שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך
R. Hannina b. Pappa said : Whoever enjoys anything of this world without a benediction is as though he robbed the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Community of Israel ; as it is said, "Whoso robbeth his father or his mother and saith, It is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer" (Prov. xxviii, 24) — "father" is none other than the Holy One, blessed be He ; as it is said, "Is not He thy father that hath gotten thee?" (Deut. xxxii. 6) ; and "mother" is none other than the Community of Israel ; as it is said, "Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother" (Prov. i. 8).
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
By omitting to pay to God the benediction due to Him, he withholds the divine blessing from Israel and the fields will not be fruitful.
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Ben Yehoyada on Berakhot
Anyone who benefits from this world without a blessing is as if they are robbing the Holy Blessed One and the Congregation of Yisra'el. It appears [correct] in my eyes that above [i.e., earlier in the Talmud {Berakhot 35a}], it had said "[one who benefits from this world without a blessing] has cursed and [nonetheless] benefited from the holinesses of the heavens" referring to the food itself that one has eaten without a blessing. But, here, [the Talmud] is speaking about the sparks of holiness that are inside the food, and, since [the eater] did not bless [the food] in order to repair [the broken, fallen holy sparks] and to raise them up, [the eater] caused the shell [of the universe's impurity/evil] to rob [the holy sparks], and therefore, the reading of this is "as if" the [non-blessing-reciting] eater themselves robbed. And since these sparks of holiness belong to the Holy lessed One, therefore, [Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa] said, "[Anyone who benefits from this world without a blessing] is as if they are robbing the Holy Blessed One and the Congregation of Yisra'el." And therefore, this is similar to Yorov'am who corrupted, and this [non-blessing-reciting eater] corrupted the sparks of holiness that are destined to be oppressed in that shell.
