The Shpoler Zeide saw Reb Nachman's teachings as deviating from classical Judaism and from the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. Some postulate that the Zeide felt threatened because Reb Nachman was moving in on his territory and taking disciples away from him. Still others claim that Reb Nachman was a threat to other rebbes because he opposed the institutional dynasties that were already beginning to form in the Hasidic world. (Reb Nachman himself did not found a dynasty; his two sons died in infancy and he appointed no successor.)