Mount Gaash and the Sin of Neglecting a Sage's Eulogy

"And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah" (Joshua 24:30). Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Whoever is lazy in eulogizing a sage deserves to be buried alive, as it is said, "And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the mountain of Gaash." What is Mount Gaash? It teaches that the mountain quaked over them to slay them. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Whoever is lazy in eulogizing a sage does not prolong his days, measure for measure. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba raised an objection to Rabbi Yohanan: "And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who prolonged days." He said to him: they prolonged days, but not years. But if so, "that your days may be multiplied" (Deuteronomy 11:21) would mean days and not years? A blessing is different. Israel were lazy in performing acts of kindness for Joshua. At that hour the Land of Israel was being divided, and the division was excessively dear to them, and Israel were busy with their work: this one busy with his field, this one with his vineyard, this one with his house, and this one with his boundary. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to shake the whole world upon its inhabitants, as it is said, "Then the earth shook and quaked" (2 Samuel 22:8). This is Mount Gaash.