Leil Shmini Atzeres 5738, the Rebbe suffers a heart attack. 770 quickly empties out, the Rebbe concludes hakafos, and goes to his holy room.

Dr. Moshe Feldman, who was then in the Rebbe’s room, relates:

At one point, the Rebbe asked me how things were going. I understood that the question wasn’t about his own physical status; he probably knew more about his cardiac condition than I did. I told him how there were still people singing and dancing in the streets.

The Rebbe looked at me, smiled, and nodded.

Chof Zayin Adar 5752, the Rebbe suffers a stroke at the Ohel.

“As with any stroke, it took several hours for the signs and symptoms to become manifest in the Rebbe’s speech,” recalls Dr. Feldman. “When the Rebbe was first brought back to 770, accompanied by the mazkirus, I walked over. The Rebbe looked up at me and said, quite clearly, “Shira v’zimrah.”

At first, I thought I hadn’t heard correctly, and some people present offered other ideas for what the Rebbe meant. But the Rebbe shook his head, repeated the phrase, and kept looking at me while he said it.

Then I was reminded of how the Rebbe had smiled when I reported about those chassidim dancing in the streets, fifteen years earlier.