H1N1 Prompts Modifying Religious Rituals

On this Jewish New year a centuries old tradition is adjusting for the H1N1 virus.

"There is a custom that the Torah, when it is walked around, removed from the arc that people kiss the Torah. Someone asked me if that's sanitary, I said, well if you have a problem with it, you can wave at the torah, I think the Torah will understand," said Rabbi Moshe Waldoks at the Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Mass.

Beth Zion Temple in is recommending hand sanitizer and dropping the handshake, reports CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.

"I'm proposing a pleasant Buddhist bow which acknowledges the person in front of you or the good old fashioned Obama fist bump," Waldoks said.

These are just some examples of the changes taking place in religious services this year. The CDC estimates there have been more than a million cases of H1N1 across all 50 states. Twenty-one states have already seen widespread outbreaks.

In Allen, Texas, at St. Jude's they are no longer sharing wine from the same chalice, one of the centerpieces of any Catholic service. The handshake that signals a sign of peace is replaced with a bow and a smile, and after every mass, each pew gets wiped down.

"At first when we asked them not to shake hands anymore, they all looked at each other said, 'What do I do?'" said Robert Halladay. "But they all did it because they understand it."

Mosques maybe best positioned to fight the spread of the H1N1 virus because before any Muslim begins their prayers, they are required to wash their hands at least three times.

"We believe that God is the creator," said Chernor Sa'ad Jalloh, Imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. "If you are standing in front of him, you need to be pure, you need to be clean."

At Manhattan's largest mosque, worshippers are celebrating the end of their holy month of Ramadan this weekend and consider their cleansing rituals as a blessing. Some see their mosque as a safe haven even from the flu.

"I feel safer here inside than outside," said Iftikhar Ahmad, a congregant. "I feel safer shaking hands here with you rather than going out at a party and shaking hands there with a person."

Regardless of faith, the CDC says if you have any flu like symptoms is best to avoid large gatherings altogether.