Chassidim would recount in the name of the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the manner that an individual is to regret sinning: [1]
Once, in Russia, a certain individual decided to take his raft to the Dnieper River for an excursion.
The bystanders who witnessed the man placing his raft in the river warned him that a storm was brewing and that it would be unwise to embark on an outing.
The man ignored the warnings and decided to take his raft out notwithstanding the danger.
When the raft capsized the onlookers heard the man’s desperate cries: “Woe, I regret this trip…”
Sadly, though the effects of our sins are enumerated in our various holy books, we fail to truly identity with the realistic effects of our actions. Were we to truly relate to the contents of the books—sin would be veritably impossible.
[1] Otzar Pitgamei Chabad, Vol. 1 Pg. 88
