 In 1665, the events surrounding the arrival of the self-proclaimed Messiah Sabbatai Zevi to Jerusalem, causes a massacre of the Jews in Jerusalem.In the early 18th century, as a result of outstanding debts, the Ashkenazi synagogues of Jerusalem were shut down and many Ashkenazi Jews were forced out of Jerusalem and barred from returning.The Near East earthquake of 1759 destroyed much of Safed, killing 2,000 people with 190 Jews among the dead, and also destroyed Tiberias.