To perform the waving ceremony, one holds the lulav apart from the etrog during the recital of the blessing. Right-handed users hold the bound lulav in the right hand and the etrog in the left hand. Lefties have differing customs as to which hand holds the lulav and which holds the etrog before the blessing is made. An Ashkenazi lefty holds the lulav in the left hand. A Sephardi lefty holds the lulav in the right hand.
Before the blessing is said, the etrog is turned upside-down, opposite the direction in which it grows. The reason for this is that the blessing must precede the performance of the mitzvah. Should all the species be held in the direction in which they grew, the mitzvah would be fulfilled before the blessing is recited.
A variant custom, followed by Lubavitcher Hasidim and some others, is to not hold the etrog at all while reciting the blessing, only afterwards.
After reciting the blessing, "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to take the lulav" (the "Shehecheyanu" blessing is also recited the first time each year that one waves the lulav and etrog), the etrog is turned right side up (or picked up), and the user brings his or her two hands together so that the etrog touches the lulav bundle. The lulav and etrog set is then pointed and gently shaken three times toward each of the four directions, plus up and down, to attest to God's mastery over all of creation.
An additional reason for waving the 4 Species in all directions alludes to the fact that all these species require much water to grow. The lulav (date palm) grows in watered valleys, hadass and aravah grow near water sources, and the etrog requires more water than other fruit trees. By taking these particular species and waving them in all directions, the Jew symbolically voices a prayer for abundant rainfall for all the vegetation of the earth in the coming year.
The waving ceremony can be performed in the synagogue, or in the privacy of one's home or sukkah, as long as it is daytime. Women and girls may also choose to perform the mitzvah of waving the lulav and esrog, although they are not required by Halakha to do so. Because women are not required to perform this mitzva, some are of the opinion that Sephardi women do not need to recite the blessing.
The waving is performed again (though without the attendant blessings) during morning prayer services in the synagogue, at several points during the recital of Hallel.
Additionally, in the synagogue, Hallel is followed by a further ceremony, in which the worshippers join in a processional around the sanctuary with their 4 Species, while reciting special supplications (called hoshaanot, from the refrain hosha na, "save us"). From the first through the sixth day of Sukkot, one complete circuit is made; on Hoshanah Rabbah, the seventh and last day of Sukkot, seven complete circuits are made. As the arba minim are not used on Shabbat, there are variant customs as to whether hoshaanot are said and a circuit made on that day.
