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A Fourth Matzah?
Contributed by Talya Finke

  • TOP HAGGADAHS FOR 2023

Three matzot are traditionally placed on the seder plate...In the past century many Jews added a fourth matzah as a reminder of the Jews of the former USSR, who were once forbidden to practice their Judaism. We ate the fourth Matzah for them, because they could not; we prayed for their liberation. They are now able to practice Judaism, but we have kept the fourth matzah here, as a reminder that while any one person is enslaved anywhere and in anyway, we are not entirely free. This fourth matzah is the matzah of hope                                                                                                

  (Williams College Feminist Haggadah)

We dedicate our fourth matzah to the people of Tibet

"The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader, observed after meeting with a Jewish delegation, "Now I understand the secret of Jewish spiritual survival. In everything you do, always to remind."

The Jewish collective memory informs our holidays and celebrations. We re-enact our slavery in Egypt, the destruction of our Temples in Jerusalem, and our suffering in exile. These memories, which sustained the nation and people of Israel, have also taught us to feel the pain of other oppressed peoples. Just as we were twice driven from our homeland, the people of Tibet lost their autonomy around 50 years ago and have been oppressed by the Chinese ever since. The Dalai Lama has led a nonviolent campaign to regain Tibetan autonomy and religious freedom, a struggle that has won him the respect of the world and the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Baal Shem Tov wrote, "The key to redemption is in remembrance." Seder Night is a night on which we remember. We remember the history of our own people, their slavery and their redemption. We remember the sufferings of others who have learned the meaning of Galut, exile. On Seder night we remember the unspeakable horrors perpetrated by the Chinese m Tibet; the sudden and violent end to Tibet's centuries old isolation beyond the Himalayas; the brutal suppression of Tibet's unique brand of Buddhism; and the annihilation of Tibet's culture and society.

Of the six million Tibetans, more than a million have died from the Chinese occupation, of torture, starvation and execution. More than 6,000 monasteries and their contents, irreplaceable jewels of Tibetan culture, were destroyed. Tibetans are routinely imprisoned and tortured for non-violently expressing their views.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught us that no religion is an island. All humanity is created in the likeness of God. We Jews, who have known persecution, exile and attempts to annihilate us, reach across the boundaries of geography and culture to another people, so like us, yet so different.

Why not set aside as a token of hope, a matzah of freedom, to remember the Tibetan people, whether in exile or under the yoke of Chinese oppression. The Talmud teaches that in messianic times we will recall at Passover not just the liberation from Egypt but the liberation of all peoples from their oppression. We can bring that time of perfection closer by recalling the hope of freedom for all Tibetan people.  

(adapted from the writings of Rodger Kamenetz, author, of the acclaimed book, The Jew in the Lotus – UJIA Makor Haggadah Supplement)
haggadah Section: Yachatz

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