Religion, raunch, and the Red Sox

He grooves to rappers like the Wu Tang Clan. He curses. He drives erratically. But upon entering the synagogue chapel for services, senior Joshua Pressman knows that it's time to get holy.

Pressman, who is President of Hillel, the University's student-run Jewish center, has devoted himself to Judaism ever since he attended sleep-away camp Tel Noar at age ten.

Pressman remembers his six summers of Friday night Shabbats at Tel Noar with a special fondness: "After dinner, there was singing, dancing, and celebrating," he says. "I felt such a sense of connection, of belonging. In those moments, I was overcome by love."

As president of Hillel, Pressman aims to facilitate that sense of connection and love between other students at Tufts. While he deems religion to be a guiding truth, Pressman also recognizes that other things are important in life -- like baseball.

"I eat, sleep, and breathe the Red Sox," Pressman said as he sits down to lunch at Hotung Cafe. True to his Boston roots, Pressman rolls his eyes when asked about the Red Sox's rival team, the New York Yankees. "I f*cking hate the Yankees," he says.

Pressman is quick to add, however, that his animosity towards the Yankees does not extend to their fans. "I don't hate the Yankees fans," Pressman says. "Just the Yankees themselves. I get really pissed off when people don't make that distinction."

"Another thing I've discovered," Pressman says, "is that my overall productivity is directly correlated with the Red Sox winning and losing streaks. For example, after the Sox lost the first game of the playoffs last season, I was so angry that I could barely function. But the next game, after they won, I got all my work done and was feeling great. I could do anything."

Pressman's can-do attitude brings a breath of fresh air to his executive board meetings at Tufts Hillel. Many students assume Hillel is only for those who are very religious and of a certain orthodox mentality. Pressman's self-described "offbeat" sense of humor, however, helps to put even skeptical and reluctant students at ease.

Senior and Hillel board member Laura Israel remembers Pressman playing a practical joke to set the tone for the upcoming year under his leadership. "There was a new girl on the board who had never been to a meeting before," Israel recalls, laughing. "So on the agenda, he added 'opening blessing' and called on this new girl to offer everyone her personal prayer. So we sat for a while, waiting for her to begin the prayer while the girl just sat there speechless, absolutely mortified."

Pressman has been showing his playful side since his sophomore year. "He'd run around his dormitory naked on occasion," Israel adds. "One time he came into my room wearing just a jock strap. He would strut around nonchalantly, sit himself down at my computer, and start up a conversation."

Though not quite as surprising as his showing up in nothing but a jockstrap, Pressman's musical taste doesn't fall within stereotypical religious leader parameters. He is an avid hip hop music fan who enjoys jamming to everything from the Beastie Boys to Q-Tip.

Dressed in a royal blue ribbed sweater and wrinkle-free khaki pants, Pressman is not exactly a dead-ringer for Eminem. Nevertheless, he says that he is no stranger to the New York City night-club scene, where Pressman and his friends have upon occasion stayed out dancing and partying until dawn.

"I would consider someday living in New York," Pressman says. "But then, I could never live in a place with that many Yankees fans."

Pressman hopes that serving as President of Hillel and leading its 37-member board will help him in future endeavors. "In my wildest dreams, I would love to manage a multinational corporation," he says. "That's my vision -- and in fact," he adds, grinning broadly, "just today I took an online personality test which classified me as the 'executive' type."

An economics and political science major, Pressman is currently researching multinational corporations and writing a thesis on foreign direct investment in South America, focusing on two regions: the MERCOSUR and the Andean Community. The concept of foreign investment first sparked Pressman's interest when he took a class on transition economies with Assistant Economics Professor Karen Eggleston. After writing a research paper about foreign investing, Pressman felt that he had found his calling.

In an attempt to combine his interest in investing with his Spanish-speaking skills, Pressman decided to focus his studies on Latin American countries, and his interest grew from there. "Eventually, my goal is to take some risks and invest fairly large amounts of money in foreign corporations," he says.

Pressman also plans to invest money in more altruistic ways. "My mother has impressed upon me the idea of being generous and charitable, known as being tzekek in Hebrew," he says. "Tikkun Olam in Hebrew means to repair the world."

To Pressman, such ideals serve as a personal commitment. "It is sort of a natural step for me," says Pressman. "Judaism has helped me to become my own person -- now I want to give back somehow."

To achieve his goal, Pressman hopes to start his own charities and, in turn, contribute as much as possible. "One day, I'd like to see the Pressman Family Hillel Center," he jokes. "Now that would be the storybook ending to my career."