Redmayne
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I have read that most modern Jews descend from only 3 or 4 mothers. And about 300 people.I think it's best to only rely on the academic analyses, which postulate anywhere from 40-60% admixture from "European" sources. The complications arise because of the overlap between "Europeans" and some Near Easterners dating all the way back to the Neolithic.
Davef linked to one good discussion here. There are others. Just use the search engine.
As for the source of the admixture, no one really knows except that Eastern Europeans had a very small impact on the total Ashkenazi genome, somewhere quite a bit less than 10% (proved by IBD analysis).
We don't even really know whether the bulk of the admixture took place in the Near East itself or in Europe.
Another thing that we do know, despite all the hypothesis that the Ashkenazim formed as a result of mostly male Jews admixing with Italian women from somewhere in central/north Italy in the early Medieval period, there is no significant IBD sharing with the so far tested Italian reference populations.
Want to know something even more interesting? I have heard from a Jewish friend of mine; that Jewish culture is Matriarchal and that it is the women who decide who is Jewish or not. For instance, if your dad is not a Jew; but your mother is, you are automatically Jewish. (at least, culturally). But if your mother is not Jewish but your dad is a Jew, you are not considered a Jew. (Unless a Jewish woman - not a man - decides to qualify you for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Not sure if it is true. But I found this information quite interesting.