[It] describes plague,
earthquake, famine and locusts that
befell Jerusalem.
The earthquake, it
says, caused houses and shops to
collapse. Two synagogues fell apart
and so did two churches that adjoined
each other. Severe damage was
caused to the Holy Sepulchre and to
the Dome of the Rock. The people left
their houses and stayed in the city
cemeteries.
This poem, which was composed
some time after these calamities,
extends their occurrence over several
years, starting with 1542/3 ("hashab",
i.e. 5302 of the Jewish Era). The
earthquake is placed in the midst of a
Passover feast of the following year,
that is, sometime in the spring of 1543
or 1544. It would appear that the poet,
who was writing some time after
these events, erred in the year, and
that the association of the earthquake
with the Passover is purely
decorative.
