The question of polygamy in Yehoshua's 'A journey to the End of the Millenium': two moral views - two Jewish cultures

This article deals with A. B. Yehoshua's novel A Journey to the End of the Millennium, published in 1997, in which he goes back to the year 999 C.E. and describes the complex relationships between the Jewish communities of North Africa and Ashkenaz. With the issue of polygamy as its background, the novel builds a vibrant, rich picture of these two Jewish communities and raises issues of contemporary relevance. In this article I will present the overt and covert aspects of the struggle between the two cultures and suggest two perspectives for reading the struggle: the first focuses on the debate over polygamy through an elaboration of two distinct moral approaches—deontological-Kantian ethical theory, and Aristotelian morality. The second presents a link between the novel and Yehoshua's work and views, focusing on issues of Jewish identity and the relationships between East and West in Israeli society.