The Jerusalem Post, April 8, 1998

By MARILYN HENRY

NEW YORK (April 8) - When Jews sit down at Seders to commemorate their

exodus from slavery to freedom, the Tibetans hope they will be remembered

as well, with the "matza of hope" and the telling of their travails.

There were dozens of Seders for Tibet across the US last year, including one in Washington. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, sat with Reform movement leaders and US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer for a Seder that concluded "next year in Lhasa" - Tibet's capital.

Bhuchung Tsering, director of the International Campaign for Tibet, said that Pessah resonates with Tibetans for its spiritual and political significance.

"We Tibetans have always been fascinated with the Jewish experience, especially because we are undergoing a similar experience ourselves. We are seeing how we can preserve our identity in a difficult situation," said Tsering. "Passover is a good opportunity for us, because of the symbolism of Jews celebrating freedom."

Tibetans also are trying to get the attention - and the advocacy - of the Jewish community, Tsering said. "We are reaching out to a community that was a victim of this experience" of oppression in hopes that it "will feel some kind of moral responsibility to help."

Tsering expects his organization's Web site (www.savetibet.org) to offer material to add to the Pessah ritual and to supplement the Haggada. A fourth matza could be added as the "matza of hope."

One suggested addition for the Haggada is: "We Jews, who have known persecution, exile, and attempts to annihilate us, reach across the boundaries of geography and culture to another people, so much like us, yet so different."

If more religious organizations come out publicly on behalf of Tibet, Tsering said it would send a political message to the Chinese that Beijing cannot ignore. On the popular level, he said, such advocacy "encourages the Tibetans and gives them hope."