What is cool, though, is that our brains are different: They are exact mirror images of a “righty” brain!

It is impossible to see from an X-ray or other test whether somebody is right-handed or left-handed. There are no noticeable differences between our bones, muscles, tendons, or anything else in the structure of our hands. What is cool, though, is that our brains are different: They are exact mirror images of a “righty” brain! That makes sense, because for righties, the left side of the brain is what controls their motor function (i.e., the use of our hands) and in lefties, it’s the right side.

Being left-handed can be complex for frum Jews. (Men even more so than women, as tefillin can be a complicated affair!) Things like washing netilas yadayim or holding a lulav and esrog…. We always need to think twice before we do anything with our right hands, because our left hands are stronger and more dominant, making it the automatic hand that we use. Oh, and let’s not forget the Shabbos seudah or any other meal! Righties and lefties sitting next to one another is a recipe for disaster. Our elbows will always bang into each other because I’m eating with my left hand and you’re eating with your right!

We lefties are a unique breed! Only about ten percent of the world’s population is left-handed. In our grade in school, this percentage is pretty precise: out of 76 girls, there are seven lefties.