Where you see the idea of every word of Torah is equal to all (other commandments) is in the Yerushalmi on the mishna in peah תלמוד תורה כנגד כולם אפילו דבר אחד של התורה. "Learning Torah is equal to them all (other commandments),"--and the Yerushalmi says there, " even one word of Torah."
But this leaves me in a sort of contradictory position, for on one hand I think learning Torah [Oral and Written Law] is the greatest of all the commandments, still I do not think people ought to be paid money for doing so. To me it is like having trust in God. Trust in God is also a mitzvah [as brought in many verses]. But would you pay someone to have trust in God?
[ I might mention, that the strict definition of the Oral Law refers to the actual books written around the time of the Talmud. רבינא ורב אשי סוף הוראה As the Gemara says: "Ravina and Rav Ashi are the end of the period of teaching and deciding the law." So what comes later is second hand. So while the rishonim are important in order to understand the Oral Law, they are not the Oral Law.]
כמו שאין תוספת וגירעון בתורה שבכתב כן אין תוספת וגירעון בתורה שבעל פה--רמב''ם באגרת
[When I was in Shar Yashuv (of Rav Freifeld), I discovered this idea of the importance of every word of Torah. That lite a fuse under me. Later circumstances dampened my ardor, but I still wish that I could be learning Torah.] (Incidentally he emphasized doing every chapter or portion of what one learns ten times. In Shar Yashuv they were very much into learning in depth. I now appreciate that much more than I did then, because I have that people that d not get the in depth sort of learning when young, never get it.]
[There is a difference between the Oral Law and explanations of the Oral Law. So while the actual Oral Law is only the books of the sages of the Mishna and Talmud, Tosphot would be in the category of what explains the oral law.
