WASHINGTON, 24, Apr (AP) -- The Dalai Lama donned a yarmulke, broke matzo and compared notes Thursday on the endurance and survival of the Tibetan and Jewish peoples.

Concluding his annual visit to Washington, Tibet's Buddhist leader in exile also was participating in an interfaith service for religious freedom Thursday evening at the National Cathedral.

His spiritual activities followed numerous meetings with Clinton administration officials. President Clinton and Vice President Gore met him at the White House Wednesday and, a spokesman said, "welcomed the Dalai Lama's commitment to nonviolence and to negotiations with China."

On Thursday, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with the Dalai Lama to underscore U.S. support for Tibetans' human rights and religious freedom.

The Clinton administration is not calling for independence for Tibet, and the Dalai Lama insists he and Tibetans want only genuine self-rule within China's borders. But China accuses the exiled leader of using the cover to religious freedom to seek support for full independence.

State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns reiterated longstanding U.S. policy of considering Tibet part of China. "What we have encouraged is a direct dialogue between the Dalai Lama and his supporters and the Chinese government officials. We think that's important."

The meeting with local Jewish leaders came at a Passover seder on the holiday marking the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt 2,000 years ago and their struggle for survival.

The Dalai Lama thanked his hosts for incorporating into the traditional Passover ritual mention of his people's efforts to preserve their culture under Chinese rule. To the traditional hope for "Next Year in Jerusalem," the words "Next Year in Lhasa," the Tibetan capital, were added.

"Many of our Jewish brothers and sisters have been outspoken and generous in their support and assistance to the Tibetan people," the Dalai Lama said in a message to American Jews.

"In our dialogue with rabbis and Jewish scholars, the Tibetan people have learned about the secrets of Jewish spiritual survival in exile ... for 2,000 years, even in very difficult times, the Jewish people remember their liberation from slavery to freedom and this has brought you hope in times of difficulty."

Tibet is being mentioned this year in Passover seders throughout the United States, in addition to that participated in by the Dalai Lama for the first time, said Rodger Kamenetz, author of "The Jew in the Lotus," a book about a Jewish-Buddhist dialogue begun in 1990 at Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama's haven in India.

Wearing a black skullcap with his saffron robes, the often-smiling Buddhist leader sat between Kamenetz and Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, site of the seder on Washington's Embassy Row.

"People from both the Tibetan community and the Jewish community were deeply moved," Saperstein said.