bubbe rubin was a frequent viisitor to our roxbury-dorchester residences, particularly on shabbat. we would visit her when she lived with aunt alice, i have appreciated the way my father's mother partnered with zeide rubin to migrate from vilkomir, russia-lithuania, to the boston area early in the 20th century. the oldest sons, hyman and max came first, with their father. bubbe and the four youngest, sam, ben, si and alice stayed with avram mordecai chess, bubbe's brother. in spitalfields, east london, then sailed to boston on the ss cymric, about 1905. i got to know all this lore from my father and, later, from the chess family in london during wwii (flower & dean st. rothschild flats. bubbe and zeide rubin rented housing in east boston, then roxbury; they benefited economically from their mechanical and entrepreneurial talents. the rubins are a success story, due to their upringing and recognizing local oipportunities rather than academic pursuits.
