@ujm The Ukraine Rosh Hashono thing is important for some people to feel a certain d’veykus to Hashem that cannot be accomplished anywhere else. It’s only a heichi timtza for a mitzvah for some people.
I would say it’s like comparing reading a history book to learning Gemara. It’s not bitul to read and understand history, but there’s no specific mitzvah and it’s certainly incomparable to Talmud Torah.