This past Thursday, local Jewish community leader Reuven Rahamim was shot and killed inside his Accent Signage Systems company office. When asked about him, those who knew him described him as wonderful, kind, and always cheerful. He was also the sweetest, nicest, most generous person you could meet.
Yet if told these attributes he would've listened with a smile on his face, then laughed them off, passing off to others any credit for his accomplishments. His humility and generosity of spirit made him the type of person that few are, yet all aspire to be. His death is a great and sorrowful loss to our community.
Rahamim was an active and integral part of the Twin Cities Jewish Community. A member Beth El Synagogue for decades, he served on the board of the synagogue up until his death. Not one to idly attach his name to something, he was a constant presence at the synagogue, be it at Shabbat services, board meetings, or numerous other events.
He and his wife, Shereen, sent their children to the Minneapolis Jewish Day School (MJDS), and Shereen served as President of the MJDS Parent Teacher Organization while their children were students at the school.
A Sephardic Jew of Persian descent, Reuven Rahamim was born and raised in Israel. His family immigrated to the United States in 1974, but he never lost his love for his birth country. He made sure to visit whenever he could, and he passed along his love and passion for the country to his children and grandchildren.
But Rahamim did more than simply spreading his love of Israel to his family. He was a very vocal and active ally for Israel within the larger community. Like most Jews, he was concerned for Israel's safety and continued existence, and he worked to maintain a friendship between the two countries, Israel and the United States, that he loved so dearly.
Rahamim's generous spirit extended to the business he founded, Accent Signage Systems. Accent Signage makes signs for the interior spaces of buildings, including holding a patent on an innovative method for making signs in Braille. His invention and passion for that part of his business has impacted and made easier the lives of thousands of people without the ability to see.
Rahamim would've told you that it's all in a day's work. "This country has so much opportunity if you apply yourself," he said in a recent profile for MinnPost.com. "I don't know many people who have died of hard labor or studying too much in school. You need to be industrious."
