Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar asked Jews on Monday to set aside a day of prayer and fasting for this coming Thursday for the welfare of the world in light of the H1N1 flu outbreak. He also called on people to repent and increase their study of Torah.

Rabbi Amar cited a Talmudic precedent that in the time of Rabbi Yehuda around 1,500 years ago, when he learned that the pigs had a disease, he immediately declared a day of fasting because he said that pigs have a similar digestive system to humans. In another Talmudic precedent, when Rabbi Shmuel heard of a disease in a far off place he also declared a fast, since the disease can pass from place to place.

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