Now, he’ll be serving pizza in Baltimore.
Well, sort of.
Abramoff, 51, is a Capitol Hill lobbyist and businessman who pled guilty in 2006 to felony counts related to his lobbying and political activities.
That is all behind him now.
Through the good graces of Tov Pizza, which has served this community for more than 26 years, Abramoff will begin to rebuild his life.
Out of a halfway house, he now works with Tov owner Ron Rosenbluth in almost all areas of the restaurant business, with perhaps a focus on marketing strategies. Abramoff was owner of a kosher restaurant in Washington, D.C., and has experience in the kosher food industry.
Because he is still under the authority of the Bureau of Prisons, Abramoff could not be interviewed by the Baltimore Jewish Times for this story.
But he is working at Tov already, and has started what will be at least a six-month stint there transitioning back into the community.
He served some 43 months in prison. According to one of the Jewish former inmates at the prison, during his incarceration Abramoff gave shirum, or Torah lectures, to the Jewish inmates on an almost daily basis. He focused on Nach, Halachah (Jewish law) and the weekly Torah portion.
Rosenbluth said that taking a fellow Jew and giving him a fresh start is part of what Judaism stands for. He said that he was happy that Tov Pizza could be that place where Abramoff could begin his healing journey back.
While he cannot be interviewed at this time, Abramoff has made it no secret that he considers Rosenbluth a “tzaddik,” or righteous individual, for all he does for the community and especially for him.
