At the top of daf gimmel amud bet, what is the nafka mina to say that one can skip megila for kavod ha'Torah but not for talmud Torah? What is the difference?
Chaim Blumenfeld, Thornhill, Canada
I'm not exactly sure which point made in the Gemara you are questioning, and therefore will answer by way of a short explanation of the Gemara.
The Gemara established that Talmud Torah of an individual does not push aside Megilah. The Gemara asked that this does not seem to be the case, as we see that for the Kavod ha'Torah of an individual one can push aside Megilah (see Tosfos DH "Kol she'Kein"). The Gemara answers that while Kavod ha'Torah of an individual does push aside reading the Megilah, Talmud Torah of an individual does not. This is a practical difference between Kavod ha'Torah and Talmud Torah.
If your question is why that should be so, the answer could be that in many cases where there is an absence of Kavod ha'Torah, there is a denigration of the Torah (i.e. if no one, or even a special someone, would not show up to the Hesped of a great Torah scholar or a close relative). On the othet hand, one can stop Talmud Torah for a short while and there is no denigration, as even the greatest scholars take breaks from Talmud Torah in order to perform obligatory Mitzvos such as Davening, putting on Tefilin, etc..
I hope this answers your question.
All the best,
Yaakov Montrose