“Bexibudim!”: Ritualized sharing among israeli children

An ethnographic-folkloristic approach to the study of children’s peer group culture is illustrated with a study of children’s practice of and lore about the sharing of treats in ritualized exchanges that are a widely recognized feature of Israeli childhood culture. These exchanges are a taken-for-granted part of children’s daily experiences yet become the topic of intense gossip and the measure of “character” when the norm of generalized reciprocity which underlies them is breached. The rules of verbal and nonverbal conduct associated with them are formulated, and the social function they play in delineating and reaffirming the boundaries of a child’s larger, diffuse affil-iative group is discussed. (Ethnography of communication, interaction rituals, exchange, communication competence, peer group culture).