Meet Gamaliel - Prince of Manasseh

Prince of Israel Series on Kindle Vella features twelve fictional princes modeled after the Princes of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament in the book of Numbers, Chapter One verses five-fifteen.

Numbers 1:5-15

Allow me to introduce my character, Gamaliel (Leo), the Prince of Manasseh!

At the beginning of the story, Leo is naïve, childlike and trusting, with no real-world experience.

Basically, he needs to grow up!

In the book Prince of Israel Series on Kindle Vella, he starts off nervous to go to the Tribute Festival. He think he won’t know anyone, won’t know where to go, what to do, who to talk to, and wants to back out of his responsibilities as Prince of Manasseh. Until he and his cousin rescue two college-age girls whose car broke down on the side of the road.

Esther is also eighteen, recently graduated high school, and is excited to attend the Tribute Festival for the first time. She and her sister, Talia just wanted to have fun and meet guys. Instead, their car broke down and they were picked up on the side of the road by a couple of princes. Not how they expected to spend the festival. 

Thus begins a potential romance between Leo and Esther. You’ll have to read the book to watch how that plays out.

A little more about Leo: he is barely 18 years old, lives in modern-day Nablus, West Bank, and is mentored by his cousin Elishama (Shama), the Prince of Ephraim. Shama has been warned not to corrupt his cousin by taking him out partying. But that’s a story for a different day.

You can meet Leo and Esther, Shama and Talia, and all the other characters, now in the Prince of Israel Series on Kindle Vella.
 
Here are a few paragraphs of Leo’s opening chapter:
“I’m nervous,” Leo said to his advisor, Itai. “I’m too young. I’m not going to know anyone. I won’t know where to go, what to do, who to say what to, and who to not say anything to. I don’t think I should go this year. Maybe next year?” He tried to return to his palace. He didn’t want to leave Nablus or the beautiful mountainous region of the West Bank. This was home. The center of his tribal territory. The land of inheritance for the tribe of Manasseh. He was their prince.
 
“You’re going,” Itai insisted, turning him back toward the waiting SUV. “The reason the council assigned me to be your advisor is because I’ll be able to help you. I used to serve the former Prince of Gad before he got married, and I intend to serve you until you get married.”
 
“I’m too young to even think about getting married.”
 
“That’s why I will be at your side from the time you walk into the hotel in Jerusalem until the time you leave the temple mount at the end of the festival.”
 
“You promise?” Leo sounded like a little boy, even to his own ears. At eighteen years old, he was tall and lanky but he’d bulked up in recent months. He almost looked like a man even though he was barely out of secondary school.
 
“I promise.” Itai patted Leo on the shoulders and pulled him in the direction of the passenger door of the car. “You’re going to have a blast in Jerusalem, and your cousin, Elishama, will be there with you.” As Leo climbed into the car, Itai walked around the front and climbed into the driver’s seat.
 
“Father said I should avoid hanging out with Shama,” Leo said as he was clicking his seatbelt into place. “He’s a bad influence, and I need to keep my heart and mind focused on the sanctity of the Tribute Festival. I should remember why I’m there and the reason I’m there.”
 
“And what is that reason?” Itai asked. He shifted the SUV into gear and drove toward the gates to leave their property. “Explain it to me as if I’ve never heard of the festival before.”
 
“Um… to pay tribute to the Levites?”
 
“Why?” Itai quizzed Leo further.
 
“Because they don’t have any land of their own?”
 
“Why don’t they have any land?”
 
“Because they are the keepers of the temple.” Leo nodded definitively, knowing he was completely glossing over most of the true nature of the festival.
 
“Good, now introduce yourself to me.”
 
Leo took a deep breath, then lifted his chin with confidence. “I am Gamaliel, Prince of Manasseh, whose tribe is named after the son of Joseph, who was the son of Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham.”
 
“Prince of Manasseh is fine. You don’t need to give people your whole lineage. Most people already know that Ephraim and Manasseh were sons of Joseph.”
 
“Am I allowed to tell them they can call me Leo?”
 
“In casual conversations, yes, but never around the king, or any prophet for that matter. Or any commoners not directly related to your inner circle. The other princes, yes. A girl you’re flirting with, yes. The staff at the hotel, no. And most definitely no one within the temple mount.”
 
“Okay, I can handle that.”
 
The drive from his hometown of Nablus to his cousin’s city, Turmus Ayya, was only an hour, but they would ride together from there to Jerusalem, which was another hour and a half.
 
They wanted to be on time for the meeting with the king, and that meant they needed to get moving. As long as they didn’t have any major detours, they’d be fine. But the drive had mountainous twists and turns through rock and desolation. Anything could happen. They made it to Elishama’s house without issue.
 
A butler opened the door for them, and Leo’s cousin came bounding down the stairs with his overnight bag slung over his shoulder. Leo was so excited he couldn’t help calling out, “Elishama! It’s so good to see you after all these years.”
 
“Leo?” Shama’s jaw dropped. “When did you grow up?”

​Read the rest of the story now in the Prince of Israel Series on Kindle Vella.

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