Sefirot Amidah Yosef and Yehuda VaYigash

 בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְקוָק, אֱלֹקינוּ וֵֽאלֹקי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ, אֱלֹקי אַבְרָהָם, אֱלֹקייִצְחָק, וֵֽאלֹקי יַעֲקֹב. הָקל הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא, אֵל עֶלְיוֹן,גּוֹמֵל חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים, קוֹנֵה הַכֹּל, וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵּי אָבוֹת, וּמֵבִיאגוֹאֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַֽעַן שְׁמוֹ בְּאַֽהֲבָה:Love 13   Echad One and Names   13+13 = 26 Havaya   Colors    מֶֽלֶךְ   עוֹזֵר   וּמוֹשִֽׁיעַ   וּמָגֵן:   Instead of paraphrasing Rabbi Kaplan, I thought it importantto quote him directly as this is such an incredible lesson, I doubt there is asingle person who would not benefit tremendously,   He writes: The first paragraph in the Amidah concludes withfour words that are designated to bring Hashem closer to the worshiper. These fourwords are 'Melech - King, Ozer - Helper, Moshia - Rescuer, and Magen -Shield,'  Whereas in the first part of this paragraph we relate toHashem in a general manner, here we develop our personal relationship with Him.These four words are the key to the entire Amidah. If one says them correctly,one is left in a perfect spiritual space for the rest of the service. Even ifone has said the first parts of this paragraph without proper concentration, ifthese four words are said properly, they will bring the worshiper to such acloseness to Hashem that the rest of the Amidah will be perfect. Let us look atthese four words in detail.  The first word is 'King' (Melekh). We begin bylooking at Hashem as our king and at our relationship to Him as that of asubject to a king. A king is far away, in his capital city, in his palace. Ifyou want something from the king, you must send him a formal request, and itgoes through his staff, his ministers, his secretary. Then, if you are lucky,after a few months you may get a reply. Therefore, when we address Hashem asKing, we see Him as majestic but distant. Help is available from him, but notclosely available.  In the next word, we address Hashem as 'Helper'(Ozer). Now we see him as much closer than a king. A 'helper' issomeone whom we can readily approach. He is a friend whom we know we can  always call on and who always will make himself available.Therefore, when we call Hashem 'Helper,' we realize that we can callon Him at any time and He will be there for us. This is a relationship  much closer than that to a king. In saying this word, we arebeginning the process through which we draw closer to Hashem. Third, weaddress Hashem as 'Rescuer' (Moshia). Again, a rescuer is much closerthan a helper. A rescuer is someone who is available to save you when you aredrowning in a river; he is right there to jump in and pull you out. A helpermay have the best intentions in the world, but if he is not close to you at alltimes, he cannot save you when you are in danger. Therefore, when we speak toHashem as our 'Rescuer,' we see Him as being available whenever weneed Him, ready to rescue us in an instant. We recognize that Hashem is alwaysclose enough to help us, even when we are in imminent danger. Thus, therelationship of Rescuer is much closer than that of Helper. This word brings usyet a step closer to Hashem.  Finally, we speak to Hashem as our 'Shield'(Magen). A shield is even closer than a rescuer. A shield can help even when anarrow is flying at me and there is nothing else that can stop it. When the arrowis flying, there is no time for even the rescuer to intercept it. The shieldmust be there in place—right in front of me. Thus, when I address Hashem as my'Shield,' I can feel Him right in front of me. Hashem is all aroundme, surrounding me like a suit of divine armor. I am totally aware of Hashem'sprotective power, surrounding me on all sides. I feel that I am being protectedby Hashem, so that nothing in the world can harm me.  Thus, in the four words 'Melech - King, Ozer -Helper, Moshia - Rescuer, and Magen - Shield,' we become more and moreaware of Hashem's closeness. First we see Him as a benevolent but distant king,then as a willing helper, then as a nearby rescuer, and finally, as an immanentshield. In these four words, we make the transition from viewing Hashem as aremote transcendental force to seeing Him as a protector who is closer than theair around us.  The one person who reached the level where he couldconstantly see Hashem as his shield was Abraham. Hashem had told him, 'Donot fear, Abram, I am a shield to you' (Gen. 15:1). From that time on,Abraham had a constant perception of Hashem as his shield. He was always awareof Hashem being very close to him, surrounding him and protecting him on a mostimmanent and direct level…. Of all the levels of relationship to Hashem, thelevel of shield is the closest. Here we see Hashem close enough to us to stop evena flying bullet. This was the level attained by Abraham, and at this point inthe Amidah, we aspire to it.  Even unaware of the danger and oblivious to even callout for help, Hashem is there protecting us.  וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוּדָ֗המַה־נֹּאמַר֙ לַֽאדֹנִ֔י מַה־נְּדַבֵּ֖ר וּמַה־נִּצְטַדָּ֑ק הָאֱלֹקים מָצָא֙אֶת־עֲוֺ֣ן עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ הִנֶּ֤נּוּ עֲבָדִים֙ לַֽאדֹנִ֔י גַּם־אֲנַ֕חְנוּ גַּ֛םאֲשֶׁר־נִמְצָ֥א הַגָּבִ֖יעַ בְּיָדֽוֹ׃      The word גם may beunderstood as הגם, i.e. 'even though the goblet has not been found in ourpouches.' Inasmuch as the sin the brothers had been guilty of did notinclude Benjamin at all, seeing he had been far too young to participate in thesale of Joseph, they said: 'as well as the one in whose pouch the goblethas been found;' they attributed Benjamin's having been found with thegoblet in his pouch as a misfortune that had befallen Benjamin only because hehad travelled with sinners such as they. We find a similar use of twoapparently not only unrelated but completely contradictory phenomena when theTalmud in Sanhedrin 93 compares 'two dried out trees and one moistone,' saying that when the dry trees go up in flames even the green treeis burnt up together with them.      וַיֹּ֕אמֶר חָלִ֣ילָהלִּ֔י מֵעֲשׂ֖וֹת זֹ֑את הָאִ֡ישׁ אֲשֶׁר֩ נִמְצָ֨א הַגָּבִ֜יעַ בְּיָד֗וֹ ה֚וּאיִהְיֶה־לִּ֣י עָ֔בֶד וְאַתֶּ֕ם עֲל֥וּ לְשָׁל֖וֹם אֶל־אֲבִיכֶֽם׃ {ס}         According to ourview Yehudah reasoned with Joseph as long as he felt that they were all beingpunished for something they had done in the past. When he realised thatinnocent Benjamin was being singled out for punishment whereas they, the guiltyones, were allowed to go free, he realised that he did not confront divinejudgment in the person of Joseph, but that Joseph was a capricious ruler whohad framed Benjamin for reasons of his own. There was therefore no cause forthe brothers to submit to what they had previously considered as divineretribution.   וַיִּגַּ֨שׁ אֵלָ֜יויְהוּדָ֗ה וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנִי֒ יְדַבֶּר־נָ֨א עַבְדְּךָ֤ דָבָר֙בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י וְאַל־יִ֥חַר אַפְּךָ֖ בְּעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֥י כָמ֖וֹךָכְּפַרְעֹֽה׃      The word אליו mayhave been inserted in order to deflect an accusation against Yehudah who hadpreviously offered that all the brothers including Benjamin would be slaves toJoseph whereas now he wanted Benjamin released. How could he dare reversehimself? The Torah therefore explains that the word אליו refers to Joseph whowanted to keep only Benjamin.