Love Israel
The Love Israel cult was a cult in the Cascade Mountains in northern Washington. Despite its name, it practiced a combination of Christianity and New Age ideals on its rural commune.
History
Paul Erdman, a former California real estate agent, founded the Love Israel cult in 1969. It once numbered 300 members with colonies in Alaska and Hawaii as well as Washington. [1] He changed his name to Love Israel and encouraged its members to do the same, becoming "the children of [Love] Israel." Such names as Patience Israel, Chastity Israel, and Serious Israel emerged.
The group settled in 1984 on the current site of their commune, 60 miles north of Seattle in Snohomish County.
Due to bankruptcy, the cult sold its spiritual center to a Jewish organization in late 2003.
Camp Kalsman
In 2003 the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) purchased the 300 acre commune from the Love Israel group with the intention of turning it into the organization's 13th Summer camp. With a sizable donation from Mark and Peachy Levy, the site will open named in honor of Mrs. Levy's parents, in the Summer of 2006
For more information, see URJ Camp Kalsman.