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Having fled Tibet after the Chinese invasion in 1959, the Dalai Lama now lives in exile in Dharamsala. Hundreds of thousands of Tibetan refugees have joined him in the northern Indian village and many live in Diaspora in other countries throughout the world. In Jewish history, the first Temple, constructed in 950 BCE, was the center of religious life in the kingdom of Israel. The Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 590 BCE. Many Jews were killed and the remaining lived in exile in Babylon. When the exiles returned in 537 BCE, a second Temple was built. Romans demolished the second center of worship and most of Jerusalem in 70 CE, once again expelling the Jewish people from their spiritual homeland. By 1945, in the horror of the Holocaust, six million Jews had been killed, many of them teachers and religious leaders. Jews have survived centuries of persecution and dispersion. Since the Chinese takeover, Tibetans have lost their land, temples and leading religious teachers. Public teaching of Buddhism is forbidden. Chinese forces have destroyed more than 6,000 Buddhist monasteries and an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a result of the occupation. When the Dalai Lama asked, "What is the secret of Jewish spiritual survival in exile?," he felt that the Jews -- experts in survival and religious self-preservation -- would offer valuable advice. In the unprecedented meeting between two ancient traditions, much was exchanged and learned. Today, on behalf of the Tibetans in exile, the Dalai Lama expresses gratitude to his "Jewish brothers and sisters," especially for the Passover Seders for Tibet, where, in remembering the past when Jews were slaves in Egypt, they now celebrate freedom and pray for liberation for the people of Tibet. Home | The Story | Exile | The Filmmaker | Resources | Comments | ITVS