Gold and Pearls

At a joint siyum in his yeshiva, Ohel Moshe, four talmidim marked the completion of four masechtos, two shorter (Taanis and Shekalim) and two longer (Shabbos and Bava Basra). The Maharil taught that the Torah is "mipaz umipeninim yekarah", more precious than gold and pearls, because each of these has an advantage and a drawback. Gold is valued by weight, so double the weight is worth just double, but even a small sliver of gold keeps its value when broken. A pearl is valued by size, so one of double the size can be worth many times more, but a broken pearl can lose all its value. Torah surpasses both. A short masechta is worth Olam HaBa, and a long masechta can be worth myriad worlds, many times more than the number of its blatt, like a pearl. Yet unlike a pearl it cannot be broken and lose its value, for even a single daf of Gemara is priceless, and a person who learns only that daf receives sechar and does not spoil the masechta.