We are 18 Swedish “girls” (will not divulge the age as we all feel young) who meet once a month. We all reside in the center of Israel.

We started our gatherings in 1990 our "Symötet", which in Swedish means “to meet, to sew, to mend together.” Once upon a time, before consumerism, ladies came together to mend the clothes and at the same time would chat and gossip together. It made the work less boring .Well, so far we haven’t seen a needle!

Five of us are married to sabras, the rest met their husbands either on the ulpan or somewhere else in the world. Most of us have sabra grandchildren.

Aha, then we can’t be so young. Well, depends on how you look at it.

Each time we meet, we pay a symbolic sum which accumulates, and when we have a decent amount we donate it. It can be to a children’s home, guide dogs for the blind and more. This year’s monies are going to a good cause, for ESRA students’ scholarships.

Sometimes we have guest lecturers, just to improve our intellect and to learn something new.

We exchange Swedish books as well as English books. Each time someone comes from abroad, the first question is always, "which books did you bring"?

We rotate the venue so everyone has an opportunity to host. Those 'girls' who have large balconies prefer to hold our meetings during the warm months.

What is nice is that we practice our Swedish, meet to chat, eat goodies - just a happy, relaxing time for the Swedish 'girls'.

One of the 'girls' has a pilot’s license for both light aircraft and a helicopter, even a skipper on a yacht. What about scuba diving, professional dancing and more. We are an interesting group.

Our professions are like a rainbow:  doctors, working with tourists, judges at horse and dog shows, teachers, nurses and more - you name it. Some are pensioners and enjoy the free time, although I must say when one is working, somehow one manages much more.

To find a date when all of us can come together is not easy. We try to choose a different day in the week each time but it does not always work out.

Those of us who speak or understand Yiddish often go to Yiddish theater together.