Nikmat Dina

(SA Warning)
Nikmat Dina means "Revenge of Dina" in Hebrew. It was inspired by a story I never knew existed in the Torah - it addresses the first account of r*pe in Jewish history. It happens to the only daughter of Jacob (one of Judaism's forefathers) - her name was Dina. I can't express how livid it made me to see that we could not even get through one book before sexual violence was inflicted upon a woman. In the town of Shechem, a Hivite prince attacked Dina on her way home, then decides that he wants her as his wife and holds her captive. His father visits Jacob to discuss the "incident" and negotiate the marriage on behalf of his son. Dina's father? Responds with absolute silence. This silence infuriates Dina's brothers who quickly step in with excuses as to why they cannot marry. They claim that Dina is a Jewish woman and cannot marry into a society where the men do not circumcise - thinking that would dissuade the royal family. The prince though (cause he's insane) calls their bluff and adheres to the request of the negotiation, ordering all men of his town to be circumcised so he can claim Dina as his wife. Not knowing how else to protect their sister from the sinister hands of an abusive prince and captor, Dina's brothers invade Shechem in the night and kill all the men of the town, including the prince and the king, and rescue Dina from captivity to return her home... my first reaction to the outcome of this story was - Good. (Which when you think about it... means I'm condoning the murder of innocents due my empathy for Dina). There’s a lot of moral ambiguity when it comes to justice… or is it vengeance? As a survivor of r*pe and just a WOMAN in this messed up world... there is an experiential and generational rage we carry, still enduring this daily terror today. And to be perfectly honest... I'm tired of hearing inspirational songs with a broken vocal and a strummed guitar telling me that "I am believed and I am seen." I am angry. So angry I remained. There is also a gruesome story in our Book of Laws of a slave woman who endures things I prefer not to share, but ultimately gets cut up into tiny pieces and her body parts are sent to the different tribes of Israel to incite a civil war in the time of the Early Iron Age (I make sure to address that willing sacrifice and mutilation of a woman's body in the song too). I was inspired to write a song with zero inhibitions or judgement to explore this part of my shadow - and I felt like drill would be the perfect genre to handle it. To write a song where a gang of women invade the town instead of Dina's brothers - a song where womanhood is aggressively rapped about as being part of a mafia - when the scream of a woman is heard... the womanhood appears and shows no mercy to those they cross. This song is predominantly performed in Persian (Farsi) in recognition of the Islamic Republic's systematic use of sexual violence against women (and men) as a deliberate tactic to instill fear and terrorize its citizens. R*pe (in all it's forms) is tragically a common experience endured by Iranians of all backgrounds and orientations by their own leaders like the leaders of Shechem. In addition... (because sadly this topic never ends)... the Islamic Republic of Iran is also responsible for designing the barbaric r*pe and slaughter of Israelis (of all backgrounds) on October 7th, 2023 at the Nova Peace Music Festival and across the southern part of the country. In the bridge of Nikmat Dina... I contemplate having the choice to continue a cycle of violence in pursuit of revenge (thinking it's synonymous with peace). If love is what anchors our humanity and keeps us from perpetuating violence upon others... if it's an anchor that can be lifted when pushed to a certain point... do all of us have the potential to be as evil and unforgiving as our aggressors? Following this reflection, I repeatedly sing the phrase, "we will dance again," in Hebrew and in Farsi, as dancing is illegal in Iran (though an integral and freeing part of our culture)... and close the song out with a dark, melancholic, electronic dance outro and a shrill scream that brought me to tears in the studio. There is an inexplicable pain many of us carry after events like this where you are forever changed... but there are also many complex emotions that come with it, that need to be discussed and released no matter how dark. And I will say, though these stories are not commonly known or discussed... I am grateful our original leaders found importance in honoring these women by remembering and documenting them. I believe all spiritual books/books of faith are pretty much philosophy books, and when we erase the tragedies and darkness of our past out of shame, we only perpetuate and manifest them into something worse.