Mishka Shifman is a brainiac And he has a vision. "What do we have here?" he says, "Other than television?" "Watching the Sopot Festival1", Is dull beyond belief While whoever feels like it Leaves for Tel Aviv!" On the road to Mnevniki2 Mishka makes an admission: "I caught Golda Meir In the radio transmission..." And he told me things... Of beauty beyond belief... That I nearly fell into the clutches of Tel Aviv. So, at first I wasn’t drunk, I objected fully; I said, "Moshe Dayan Is a one-eyed bully, A true pharaoh An aggressive beast, And where there is aggression That’s no place for me." Mishka at once got excited - After a liter of drinking. He said, "But, look - They booted us from Egypt! Such humiliation, Is a heavy price I want to wash away the shame From the birth of Christ!" Mishka grabbed me by the chest, Yelling, "I need company! We’re not some acquaintances - We are more like family. Let’s go on pilgrimage, Quick - we better leave! Look, screw Mneviki! We’re going to Tel Aviv!" I said "I am all yours. It’s the end of discussion, But there’s one catch for us: My passport says I’m Russian. I only have Russians in my kin My great grandfather was Samarian If anyone else made it in It could only be a Tartarian." Mishka Shifman is one of a kind, He’s not one for hesitation: He has only Jews In every generation. His granddad - an ex-traitor-doc3, Now an old paralytic... And all I have are generations -- All anti-semitic. Mishka is a doctor by trade. Suddenly, he grew quieter. In Israel there are hoards of them. Gynecologists alone - They’re a dime a dozen there. Dentists can’t get in because Too many are seeking entry. Where d’you find enough teeth for all of them? In other words - unemployment!         Mishka screams out, "To hell with it! Visa, or the grave! Let’s go, Kolya, we have to catch Those Mediterranean waves!" Seeing Mishka’s blues, And when down, he’s a menace, I took another swig of booze And said "OK. Sure, let us!" Hundred people wait in line. Snaking out the door. There, they told Mishka "denied" But to me, "approved, sir" He yelled, "There must be a mistake! Between the two of us, I’m the Jew!" And they said, "Tough luck, kid! Get lost. We’re done with you!" Mishka’s tormented by the question, Who’s his secret enemy? But the answer is quite simple, Obviously and sensibly: I’m all good (knock on wood); While Mishka drinks his poison. And he snipes he couldn’t leave - Item Five’s the reason4.
1 wikipedia: Sopot International Song Festival
2 Mnevniki is a village near Moscow
3 wikipedia: Doctors plot
4 Item No. 5 on the Soviet passport denoted one’s nationality, including the nationality of "Jewish".
 
© ?. Translation, 2021