Tu Corazón: A Sefardi prayer of the Heart for Elul

During the weeks preceding the High Holidays, Psalm 27 is recited daily, moving between fear and trust, concealment and longing. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the medieval piyyut Achot K’tanah gives voice to vulnerability while invoking renewal: may the old year end with its curses, and the new year begin with blessing.

A book of piyyutim (sacred poetry) for the High Holy Days printed in Ladino (the language of the Sefardi Jews) passed down through the family of mixed-media visual artist Sandra Mayo inspired her and Cantor Vera Broekhuysen to co-create a multimedia art piece, “Tu Corazón” (“Your Heart”), which pairs Psalm 27 with the Ladino Achot K’tanah (“Little Sister”), exploring the movements of cultural memory and sacred words across generations and exile.

On this Elul afternoon, Sandra and Cantor Vera will share their story of creating the artwork together, Cantor Vera will teach her original melody for the song, and Sandra will teach movements of Sephardic dance that helped shape this piece. Register here.

In “Tu Corazón,” a veiled female figure gestures in a posture inspired by Sephardic expressive traditions in which the body becomes a vessel for emotion and prayer. One hand rises while the other partially covers the mouth, suggesting both revelation and restraint. Across the body appears a tattoo with the word corazón (heart), written in Ladino using Rashi script, the typographic form through which Sephardic communities preserved sacred and poetic texts in exile.

“Tu Corazón” is also part of a “Psalm 27: Dialogue between Text and Art,” a group exhibition presented by Hebrew College opening on September 9.