Answer

Hello Shay.
A. Torah study has value, and not necessarily specifically the commandment of Torah study. See my lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAFe4p7SDrw
These comparisons do not necessarily mean something literal; rather, they are meant to magnify the value of study. It is obvious that one interrupts Torah study in order to save a life. Beyond that, one can bring here the Chinese parable about the poor man who receives two coins and buys a slice of bread and a flower. They ask him why he did not buy two slices, and he answers that the bread is to live, and the flower is so that there will be something to live for. A similar idea appears in Meiri, who explains why one interrupts Torah study for any passing commandment even though Torah study is equal to all of them. Meiri explains that study is for the sake of practice, and if because of the study one does not practice, what good did the study do? Although here the content is the opposite—that study is a means to practice—and I, for my small part, do not agree with that, and this is not the place to elaborate.
I do not know how to explain the value of Torah study. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin in Nefesh HaChaim, and likewise the author of the Tanya, write that study is cleaving to the will of God (for He and His will are one), and therefore it is the ultimate purpose of existence.
B. In my opinion, no. That is preparation for a commandment. Just as building a sukkah is a preparation for fulfilling the commandment of dwelling in the sukkah. However, one could analyze the definition of such preparations—whether they are part of the commandment or merely an ordinary act that is necessary for the commandment but has no value in itself.
I will only add that studying wisdom of this kind is important in its own right, not only as a means for fulfilling this or that commandment.