Dear Rabbi,

I am left-handed so I hold my lulav (palm branch) in my left hand and the etrog (citron) in my right hand. Do I still place the hadassim (myrtles) to the right of the lulav and the aravot (willows) to the left of the lulav?

Dear Mel Tanen,

According to Ashkenazic custom, a lefty holds his lulav in his left hand. However, the setting of the haddasim and aravot is the same as everyone else, which is that the haddasim go on the right of the lulav (as you hold the lulav with its spine facing you).

The Sephardic custom is that even a lefty holds the lulav in the right hand.

Sources:

• Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 651:3 and Rema
• Mishna Berura ibid. note 12 in the name of the Pri Megadim