Shearith Israel Sisterhood to honor Torah Fund Honorees
Shearith Israel Sisterhood will honor Cantor Itzhak and Dr. Leah Zhrebker at its annual Torah Fund event at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 22, at Congregation Shearith Israel, 9401 Douglas Ave. Cantor Zhrebker began studying music and singing professionally at the age of 6, and his parents encouraged him to pursue a musical career. He earned a master’s degree in voice coaching, choir conducting and solo performance from Odessa City Academy of Music and then spent six years in Israel, where he studied cantorial music and performed with the Jewish Musical Drama Theater and the New Israeli Opera.
In 1996 Cantor Zhrebker came to Dallas to become cantor at Congregation Shearith Israel. In the United States, he has performed with the Walden Piano Quartet, Russian Ensemble Kalinka, String Trio Les Amis, Marvin Hamlisch, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Opera. He continues to work as a conductor, an arranger and a composer. Every Shabbat he brings his spirituality to prayers at Shearith Israel. Cantor Zhrebker is married to Dr. Leah Zhrebker, and their family includes three lovely daughters, Liora, Hannah, and Devora, and son-in-law Ariel Kagedon.
Dr. Leah Zhrebker received her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine, as well as a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Dr. Zhrebker has authored and co-authored many articles in peer-reviewed journals. She is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, participating in community events, cooking and traveling.
The Torah Fund is a project of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism in support of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany.
Cost is $36 for lunch plus $18 minimum donation to Torah Fund Campaign. Please reply by March 8. Individual donors to Torah Fund at the Benefactor level or higher receive the distinctive Torah Fund Chesed pin in recognition of their gift.
You may register online for the event at www.shearith.org. For more information about the event, email Chairs Ann Cobert, bubbecobert@gmail.com or Zelda Hantz, westtexasgirl1950@gmail.com.
— Submitted by
Roz Benjet
Robert Tobey elected Dallas Bar Association president
The Dallas Bar Association (DBA), a 147-year-old professional, voluntary organization comprised of more than 11,000 lawyers in the DFW Metroplex, recently elected its incoming board. Robert Tobey, of Johnston Tobey Baruch, P.C., will lead the association in 2020. He was sworn in as the 111th president of the DBA on January 11.
Tobey began his service on the DBA board of directors in 2012. He was later elected chair of the board in 2016. In addition, Mr. Tobey was the co-chair of the 2014-2015 Equal Access to Justice Campaign. He has served as chair and board advisor to various DBA committee and sections and also serves as chair of the advisory board of the Greater Dallas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Tobey has been featured by Texas Monthly as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Texas, listed as a Texas Super Lawyer, Texas Best Lawyers, and in D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas.
Other officers serving on the board are as follows: president-elect — Aaron Tobin, of Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton; first vice president — Karen McCloud, of Karen D. McCloud, P.C.; second vice president — Cheryl Camin Murray, of Katten Muchin Rosenman; secretary/treasurer — Monica Lira Bravo, of Lira Bravo Law, PLLC.; and immediate past president — Laura Benitez Geisler, of Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada & Geisler, L.L.P.
