Rabbi Elya Svei is one of the Rosh Yeshivas of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, although he is unwell and retired. He was one of the foremost leaders of Litvish Jewry, and one of its Gedolim. Rosh yeshiva (Hebrew: ראש ישיבה) (pl. ... Lithuanian Jews (known in Yiddish and Haredi English as Litvish (adjective) or Litvaks (noun)) are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in Lita, a region including not only present-day Lithuania but also Latvia, much of Belarus and the northeastern Suwałki region of Poland. ... Gadol or godol גדול (plurual: gedolim גדולים) (Hebrew big or great), is a tradition Hebrew term used by Haredi Jews to refer to the most revered rabbis of the Generation. ...