Mallory Palmer's TikTok went viral last year. Holidays High Holidays Rosh Hashanah Remember that viral sea lion shofar mashup? It’s still funny. Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By Jordan Palmer, St. Louis Jewish Light | September 8, 2021 I can’t believe it’s been a year since the Jewish news world went bonkers for St. Louis TikTok user Mallory Palmer, who created a viral video combining the call of sea lions with the blasts of the shofar. The Forward, JTA, Times Of Israel and the Cleveland Jewish News all carried the headline. Heck, Rabbi Erica Asch of Temple Beth El in Augusta, Maine, gave her a shoutout in her Erev Rosh Hashanah Sermon. When the video picked up steam, I suddenly realized that my daughter Mallory Palmer was actually funny, despite her mother’s best efforts. How does a video go viral? Well, when people you don’t know see it, and then make posts like this, it just goes and goes. Try listening to this 100 times. 😂 pic.twitter.com/GV277Kwkm8 — Johnny Kunza (@johnkunza) August 23, 2020 I have no idea who Jonny Kunza is, but after he tweeted out Mallory’s video, the fun began. We got calls from more than 30 synagogues from Brooklyn to San Diego, Carmel to Australia, all asking for permission to use the video in their virtual services or inviting Mallory to join them on Zoom. Messages poured in from family and friends who said the video was shared to them multiple times by people who didn’t know Mallory but could not stop laughing and had to share it. “I’ve been thinking about this all day and I just have to do it, I have to, I have to,” says Mallory in her intro in the clip. Then she says “tekiah,” one of the traditional shofar sounds — but instead of a shofar responding, a sea lion delivers a single call that could fit right in during Rosh Hashanah services. “Shevarim,” howls Mallory and another sea lion responds with the staccato sounds of the nine-note blast (actually the “teruah” call, but who’s counting). For “tekiah gedolah,” the extended tone that concludes the shofar service, multiple seals offer their call at once. “I know that the sounds aren’t PERFECT but still. Happy Rosh Hashanah!” Mallory wrote. The mashup went viral, with nearly 72,000 views five days after she posted it. Not wanting to be confused with other great Jewish scholars, my daughter cleared the air. “This is my formal apology to my Jewish following,” she wrote on a post set to a song combining Nikki Minaj’s “Super Bass” and Hava Nagilah. “I know you followed me for Jewish memes but unfortunately this is a Percy Jackson account.” Jordan Palmer Jordan Palmer is director of digital communications at the St. Louis Jewish Light. St. Louis Jewish Light Content was republished with permission from the St. Louis Jewish Light. Also On J. Full of sound and meaning, shofars message is on Web U.S. Shofar sounds out a warning, a call for introspection A blast at the beach for Rosh Hashanah U.S. Yoga center offers new slant on Rosh Hashanah rites Subscribe to our Newsletter Enter Email Sign Up