At lunchtime at a popular Persian restaurant in south Tel Aviv, even on the busy midday shift, the mood in the room changes noticeably when one of Rita’s songs comes on the radio. Restaurant owner Moluk Hanasab says she is excited to hear the romantic wedding song “Shah Doomad.” It’s her favorite song on Rita’s new album. Once popular at weddings, it hasn’t been performed in over 60 years. Hanasab says the last time she heard it, she was a small child at a wedding in her hometown in the city of Isfahan. She hums the melody to herself and smiles, saying now she will play it at the weddings of her grandchildren in Tel Aviv.
