Nevertheless, we do speak in terms of “smallness” and “greatness”, “ascent” and “descent”, “clothing”, “position” and so on in relation to the Sefirot. We certainly cannot say that any of these phenomena exist as such in the Sefirot. Yet it is impossible to say that all such concepts are purely metaphorical, hinting at exalted matters involved in the government of the worlds and its laws. For if it were so, most of the investigations of the Kabbalah would be pointless since they would be like trying to base what we know (the metaphors) on what we don’t know (the Sefirot).
This is not what is indicated by the teachings of the ARI, the earlier and later Kabbalistic sages, and, above all, those of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. All these teachings indicate that these phenomena actually do exist in the Sefirot. Here is the place to clarify the truth, for if this foundation is laid properly, everything will be understood properly, clearly and simply. But if this foundation is not laid properly, all the structures will remain flying in the air and it will be impossible to attain any understanding whatever of the investigations of the Kabbalah.