Deeply entrenched in Hasidic research since the 1950’s, following the research of Gershom Scholem, is the distinction drawn by Joseph Weiss between mystical Hasidism and the Hasidism of faith. According to this school of thought, the mystic is one who aspires to transcend the world and reach the Divine Ayin to the point of self-nullification. Consequently, mystics like the Baal Shem Tov and his pupil the Magid of Mezerich were held to be indifferent to life in this world and its existential questions. In contrast, Weiss described Nachman of Breslav, great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, as a type of Hasidic Tzaddik concerned mainly with life in this world, distance from God, the struggle against despair and the yearning for joy. In the past few decades this dichotomous approach has been viewed as overly simplistic. The writings of R. Nachman and others like him express also a mystical view and in this class we will study various Hasidic texts which illustrate the simultaneous presence of mystical longings and existential views in Hasidic sources and especially in the writings of the Baal Shem Tov and R. Nachman. We will review the relevant research in this area and discuss the significance of contemporaneous thinking among individuals like the first teachers of Hasidism.