Two Types Of Kabbalas Malchus Shomayim

לרפואת הרב יצחק מנחם בן גיטל מירל בריינדל לאה בתוך שאר חולי ישראל

ואריה דב בן מלכה

The gemara in Brachos [40] says that every bracha must contain the words מלך העולם, otherwise it's not a bracha. The question then arises - The first bracha of shmone esrei DOESN'T contain those words? The answer given is that since Avraham Avinu proclaimed Hashem as king, saying אלקי אברהם is sufficient in place of מלך העולם. But the question still remains - We don't see any other bracha where אלקי אברהם is a substitute for מלך העולם, so why specifically here??

There are two types of קבלת עול מלכות שמים. One is when we accept Hashem's kingship of our own volition. The other is when we are forced to accept Hashem's kingship [see Yechezkel 26]. The first way applies both to an individual and a community and the second way applies ONLY to the community. We don't find a compelled קבלת עול מלכות שמים with respect to an individual.

When we say אלקי אברהם we refer to the seed of Avraham accepting Hashem's malchus as a community only as opposed to saying מלך העולם which can apply to an individual as well. אלקי אברהם thus has a special connection to shmoneh esrei which ideally should be said bi-tzibbur. 

פחד יצחק שבת קונטרס ברכת אבות מאמר טו