CAD -“simply because I pointed out to you that it doesn’t actually SAY that talmud torah k’neged kulam. And furthermore, there would never be anyone who would believe that to the point that they would actually put that into practice. Want a cheeseburger? Go ahead!! I did morning seder today and after all, talmud torah k’neged kulam right? Do you really believe that statement? Would you put it into practice? No. You wouldn’t. Because the thrust of the statement is to enforce the importance of talmud torah, and that learning serves as the base of all observance. No rav in the world (past or future) would ever take that statement literally. If they did it would spell the end of torah observance as we know it.”
It does say Talmud Torah Keneged Kulam. The reason I referred you to the S’A was for you to learn up what this means, not for you to interpret it or others like OOmis.
What the S’A says is that this doesn’t excuse s/o from Not doing Aveiros, but when it comes to Mitzvos Aseh -if there are others to do it then you should learn Torah instead. For example, there are people who spend all day or some of the day visiting the sick, but you don’t see Kollel guys going everyday to visit the sick. Same with Tzedaka, many people spend their day collecting Tzedaka, but you don’t see Kollel guys spending all their time collecting. So why not? The S’A says it’s better to spend your time learning then all these Mitzvos, as long as there is/are s/o else to do them and the Mitzva isn’t Not done.