These objections may be answered as follows: It is true that the Sefirot are limited, while that which departed is without limits, and from this point of view we should not have compared what departed to the Sefirot. It is impossible to compare what departed, which is without limits, to these parts that remained, which fall within the category of limitation. Nevertheless, the nine Sefirot, although limited, do still give an indication of the Unlimited, while Malchut is actually on the boundary.
For the root of the matter is that the limited functions necessary for the entire existence of created realms and beings are in truth nine parts, which constitute the structure of Malchut itself. This is the pathway of limitation and boundaries that had been subsumed within Eyn Sof, as discussed earlier (Opening 24). However, the Unlimited overwhelmed each of these nine, bringing them back beyond limits. Thus we find here ten Sefirot: nine levels of limited action (e.g. the Malchut of each individual Sefirah: Malchut of Chessed, Malchut of Gevurah, etc.) all having one objective and all considered as constituting one Sefirah – the overall Malchut.