Our Values

Mission Statement

To foster an online community where Jews and allies can engage with each other and the outside world in meaningful, positive and authentic ways.

Babka Values

Jews

Babka believes in the cultural, racial, and religious history of the Jewish people, and that our history and teachings informs our lived experience as Jews. Babka is a site specifically made for Jews and those who wish to understand and share their lives with us (allies).

This value statement should be considered an extension of the values taught in Judaism, including Respect (Kavod), Trustworthyness (Eminut), Community (Kehillah), Learning, (Chinuch), Privacy (Pratiyut), Modeling (Dugma Eesheet), Responsibility (Achrayut), Positivity (Sever Panim Yafot) our responsibility to the Earth (Shomrei Adamah) and Work to Make a Better World (Tikkun Olam).

Diversity

Babka believes in diversity and inclusion, including different Jewish denominations, ethnicities, nationalities, politics, sexual orientations, gender identity, disabilities, and more. We will do our best to welcome a diversity of people and viewpoints to our platform for respectful and meaningful connection.

Safety

Babka believes in the safety of its community, including the need for measures to limit harmful speech both from external and internal sources.

Privacy

Babka respects the privacy of its members and will do its best to collect as little information as necessary to carry out its mission, collecting no more than it needs and keeping it only so long as is necessary.

Interculturalism

Babka believes in dialogue and connection not only within the Jewish world but outside of it as well. We believe that Jews are better off when we understand and communicate with people outside our communities and that those outside the Jewish community are better off when they take the time to understand us.

Transparency

We believe in transparency and will be as transparent as possible around decisions made for the site and community.

Free/Open Source Software

We believe in the values of the Free/Open Source Software movements, including the emphasis on education, freedom and self autonomy. We use Free and Open Source Software whenever feasible and we give back our work whenever we can. We also engage in work that will make the entire world better through collaboration with other projects.

Self-Determination and Self-Reliance

We believe that when we hand over control of our information as Jews to third parties, we place ourselves and our community at risk. Because of that, we have believe in the principle of self-reliance as much as feasible in running such a service.

Ethics in Third Party Collaborations

When choosing third party parties to either rely on or work with, we will evaluate these relationships in a way that takes ethical considerations into account, including their environmental impact and their employee working conditions.

Iteration

We believe that as our community evolves, so will our need for rules, and even our values. Change and ability to evolve is a virtue and we treat it as such.