Israeli Salad - Israel's premier English cultural TV magazine – features this week a Jewish woman who immigrated to Israel after 55 years of being held against her will in Iraq.

In the above video, host Yoni Kempinski introduces the viewers to Hana Menashe, an Iraq Jew who was kidnapped at gunpoint by a Muslim neighbor after her family decided to leave Baghdad for Israel. The Muslim forced her to renounce Judaism, but she never forgot her religion, her family, or her love of Israel. After 55 years, she managed to flee Baghdad for Israel, where she reunited with her family.

Israeli Salad takes viewers to the “biggest Tanach (Jewish Bible) conference in the world” sponsored by the Herzog College in Gush Etzion. For 15 years, men and women of all ages from Israel and the Diaspora have gathered for a four-day “marathon” of Jewish bible studies classes.  Some of the classes view the Jewish bible through art, poetry, the Internet, geography, and archaeology.

In the spirit of giving, Israeli Salad lastly takes a look at international blood donation day on June 16, which was organized in Israel by Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s emergency medical service. According to Director of MDA Blood Service Professor Ayelet Shinar, 4.3% of Israel’s population donates blood. Some rare diseases cause people to need regular blood transfusions.