(1) This article is talking about Ashkenazi / European Jews. Other Jewish populations (North African, Mesopotamian, Ethiopian, Indian, etc..) generally have pat

(1) This article is talking about Ashkenazi / European Jews. Other Jewish populations (North African, Mesopotamian, Ethiopian, Indian, etc..) generally have patrilineal descent from the original Levantine population and to varying degrees picked up local women. (2) Earlier iterations of Judaism were significantly more evangelical and actively pursued converts. Given the large population of Jews in Rome, it makes that many Italian natives made their way into the religion/ethnicity/tribe/whatever.