“Though the Talmud is not the foundation stone of Judaism it is the main conduit.”
The entire edifice of Jewish culture is bound up in the Talmud, and any place where the Talmud is lacking it is not only lacking knowledge, but also a central and vital component.
In general, it could be said that every Jewish society, which for various reasons has lost Talmudic study, withered in terms of its Jewishness and assimilated socially.
Therefore, part of the task of bringing the Talmud back to Am Yisroel was an attempt to solve this problem to a certain extent.”
--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From an interview with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz on YNET
