Reply #11: My father read the Babylonian Talmud in its original Aramaic...

[shaayecanaan]

he has also been retained as a translator for two modern translations of Daniel and one of Ezra.

"a Sanhedrin who passed the death penalty once in 70 years was considered a cruel Sanhedrin"

Actually, that particular passage is actually from the Mishnah. The Mishnah is part of the Talmud, which is constituted by the Mishnah and the "Gemara", which essentially, if imprecisely, refers to the Bablylonian Talmud. I only point this out because you seem rather confused when you state that the Oral Law comprises the "Mishna and Talmud", which is rather like saying an apple pie is made from apples and applesauce.

They have been passed from father to son since Mount Sinai.

Haha! Have they now? Along with your grandma's chicken soup recipe? Did they mention anything about the dinosaurs, by chance? They've always fascinated me, you know.

It is important to understand that the composition of the Talmud occurs after the destruction of the temple and the effective loss of Jewish sovereignty. The reason why Jewish scholars felt so free to impose restrictions on the imposition of the death penalty was because thereafter it mainly became a theoretical enterprise - obviously, Jews could not impose the death penalty on other Jews whilst they were living under the laws of another state. Indeed, the restrictions on the death penalty were politically expedient in the sense that they gave Jewish authorities an excuse for not doing what they practically could not do anyway.

The last occasion during which the Jews effectively governed themselves was the Hasmoneon kingdom. There isnt much to go on as far as imposition of the death penalty is concerned, I dont think Josephus talks about it very much anyway, but given that the major historical figures of the time were known for plying the sword rather liberally, its hard to imagine that the death penalty would have applied as sparingly as the Mishnah would require.