Question: Most Yeshivos (from 5th Grade-End of High school) Learn Talmud Bavli.

My question is: Why? What is the point of learning Talmud Bavli so extensively? 

I know that it is Hashem's Word, but there are a lot of other things to learn which are more useful (ex. Shulchan Aruch Harav where he gives the reasons (mostly from the talmud) and gives the halacha) and are Hashem's words? 

So why specifically learn Talmud Bavli? And why spend so much time on it? 

Indeed, there is a reason that we would not learn Talmud Bavli; that we know that the whole point of learning is actual performance of mitzvot, so Talmud seems ineffective vis-à-vis e.g. Shulchan Aruch Harav

Answer: 
It is true that Talmud study is not the most practical way to reach halakhic conclusions (cf. [here](https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/55493/8775)). It is also true that [many authorities](https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/55493/8775) held that rather than study Talmud, the most important thing to prioritize in study is applicable halakha.

Nevertheless, Ashkenazi yeshivot historically focused nearly exclusively on talmud, because they were designed to promote the small percentage who would need that knowledge in order to be rabbis and poskim. The educational system was not designed primarily to accommodate the other 99%.

In the words of R. Dr. David Katz:

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> Obviously, not every student was capable of mastering such material. Whatever the ideological reasons, there can be no doubt that society felt comfortable with a highly elitist educational philosophy with an almost conscious, exclusive, focus on the production of a few gifted students at the expense of the great majority. [1]
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Similarly, Dr. Ephraim Karnfogel writes:

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> The basic educational curriculum in Ashkenaz was structured with the hope that it might produce a young Rabbnu Tam. It was, above all, Talmudocentric...The communities felt no acute need for an educational system...that would address the needs of ordinary men [2].
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And similarly Dr. Jacob Katz writes:

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> [Altohugh] only a small minority of students could hope to attain this ideal...the heder...was made subservient to the needs of the minority...Even if only a minority could actually engage in it, study of the Talmud was a primary value...The educational goals for the people as a whole, knowing the fundamentals of Judaism and the fulfilment of its precepts, were considered as no more than byproducts of an educational system directed to developing Talmudic scholars. [3]
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[1] *A Case Study In The Formation of a Super-Rabbi: The Early Years of Rabbi Ezekiel Landau*, p. 104.

[2] *Jewish Education and Society in the High Middle Ages* p. 180, cited ibid. 

[3] *Tradition and Crisis* p. 163, cited by Katz ibid.
Talmudic style uses the Socratic method of learning, which is somewhat unique. First, it encourages students to learn from each other rather than from the teacher ("chevruta" style). Second, the style of learning in the Talmud is based on questions and answers - proofs and rebuttals - much like a debate. This style is unique to the Talmud. The Torah doesn't have debate, and Shulchan Aruch and Ramba"m, as examples, don't use this style either.

Gaining these two skills - cooperative learning as well as debative / "argumentative" logic is a critical skill in terms of learning. The first skill helps develop friendships and understanding how to deal with peers as well as a diverse audience. While I don't think the yeshiva's goal is directly to promote skills that will be useful in business, this skill does end up achieving this.

The discussion / argumentative skill is a "mixed" end-result. Understanding how to question and disect a problem is an important skill as it teaches you not to always take things at face-value but to research it. On the flip-side, I've also seen this skill be detrimental when teenagers use this style to debate parents' and elders' requests or when they over-analyze an issue that isn't or shouldn't be debated.