Jew -race or just a religion or to some extent both?

Question:

Jew -race or just a religion or to some extent both?

There are 3 branches of Judaism and they do not define a Jew the same way. Reform Jews state that those who adhere to the Jewish faith are Jews.
The Orthodox pretty much has one sole criteria, a Jewish mother, not necessarily a Jewish father.
They state they get the nation from the mother and the tribe from the father and if a person doesn't have a Jewish father they belong to the tribe of the nearest male relative on the mother's side of the family. Conservatives are sort of in between.
Wouldn't this mean that the mitochondrial DNA of Jews would indicate more of a racical strain than the Y and even the autosomal would be more than the Y?
My maternal grandfather was a Jew and his children did not know until after he died. They were not raised as Jews or around Jews except their father. However, an observer of my aunts, who had been around Jews a lot, would have identified them as Jewish, in appearance and in the way they expressed themselves. Idiosyncrancies are inherited.

Additional Details

1 month ago
I understand Orthodox Jews say children being raised as a Reform Jew. that do not have a Jewish mother, can only be Jews if they enter Judaism as a convert.

1 month ago
Well, Kenneth they weren't citizens of Israel.
But being Jewish without being religious, Yes. I remember hearing an Orthodox Jew say if he went to the Rabbi and told him he did not believe in God and the prophets and he wasn't a Jew any more. The Rabbi would tell him he was still a Jew.

1 month ago
Questions re race and ethnicity definitely applies to genealogy.

1 month ago
Questions re race and ethnicity are valid to genealogy. People who give fresh answers do not know their place.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: 1 month ago
I understand Orthodox Jews say children being raised as a Reform Jew. that do not have a Jewish mother, can only be Jews if they enter Judaism as a convert.