An amazing fish story from my Yiddishe bubbe’s collection plus an escapade during prohibition

My Paternal Bubbe Bessie I had to stop what I was doing to copy this story as relayed by my mother about a live "carp" that I'd seen in bubbe's bathtub as a child. Was I dreaming? Grandma Bessie lived with my zayde in the South Bronx on Longfellow Avenue along with a fish as…

Little apple, Big Apple, mayhem, murder and music: my family’s history and genealogy

While shuffling papers within a folder labeled “Piano tuners/technicians,” I stumbled upon two pages clipped together, titled “Descendants of Zalmen Tapruakh (1835-1915) and Michelle Tzinn.” (1850-1915) These were my maternal great grandparents. Tapruakh means “little apple.” (Ironically, I lived in the Big Apple for the first 30 years of my life) The genealogy papers were…