The parashah begins (1:1) יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי ש ְׁמוֹת וְא ֵלֶּה מ ִצְר ָיְמָה ה ַבָּא ִים , "These are the names of Bnei Yisrael who were coming to Mitzrayim..." These words are written in the present tense to teach us that the story of yetzias Mitzrayim isn't about the past, but rather also about the present. It tells the narrative of every Yid who falls into kelipos, and then he is saved and freed, with Hashem's help.
The Rambam wrote the following to his son, Rabbeinu Avraham: "You must know, my son, Pharaoh, the king of Mitzrayim is the yetzer hara. Bnei Yisrael is the human mind – the mind everyone has. That is the origin of where all one's desires and thoughts emerge. Moshe Rabbeinu represents G-dly intelligence, the neshamah of Bnei Yisrael. The land Mitzrayim is the human body, and the heart is the land of Goshen."
In other words, just as in the past, Pharaoh enslaved and ruled over Bnei Yisrael, and Moshe saved them, so too this happens to people, within their minds. The yetzer hara wants to rule over the desires and thoughts of a person. And just as in the times of Pharaoh, he couldn’t rule over Moshe Rabbeinu, so, too, the yetzer hara doesn't have any power over the neshamah, which are the holy, G-dly thoughts within man. This holy part of a Yid is never ruined. With these G-dly thoughts, emerging from the neshamah, a person can overcome his temptations and improper thoughts.
Just as Moshe Rabbeinu saved us from Mitzrayim, with the holy part of the intellect, a person can free himself from the control of the yetzer hara.
Every year, when we read about Bnei Yisrael being redeemed from Mitzrayim, it occurs again for every Yid. During these weeks, the weeks of "Shovavim", we can free ourselves from the grasp of the yetzer hara. We can use the strength of the holy intellect, the neshamah that is within us, to overcome the pull and influence of the yetzer hara.
Tzaddikim would say that ף"גו, body, is roshei teivos for the taavos of the human being. The roshei teivos of ף"גו spell, וילו וףג רעסןפ , "The body wants to eat", אפעןפ וילו וףג, "The body wants to sleep", וילעןפ ועטו וףג, "the body will rot in the grave", ארטפ וילו וףג, "nevertheless, the body wants the taavos." We can add another one: אלגןפ ועטו וףג, in the end, the body will obey. The strength of the neshamah, which is the holy and G-dly mind that a Yid has, will be victorious over the yetzer hara and the temptations, and the person will act as he should.
The Zohar (126a) states, "Every day, a bas kol comes forth and announces (Yirmiyahu 3:22) שובבים בנים שובו, 'Return backsliding children.'" This occurs every day, but the bas kol is louder and clearer during these days of Shovavim. On these days, Hashem says (Malachi 3:7) ת"צְב ָאוֹ 'ה אָמַר אֲל ֵיכֶם וְאָשׁוּבָה אֵלַי ש ׁוּבוּ, "'Return to Me, and I will return to you,' said Hashem."
Hashem accepts everything we do during Shovavim with love, to purify ourselves from past aveiros. Every hischazkus in overcoming the yetzer hara during Shovavim is extremely purifying. As the Magid said to the Beis Yosef, דודים עת עיתך והנה, which means that a person's teshuvah during Shovavim is accepted in Heaven with love, and it accomplishes more than if he would do the same teshuvah at any other day of the year.
The Gemara (Chagigah 15a) states, בנים שובו מאחר חוץ שובבים . The Rebbe of Valednik, in his sefer She'iris Yisrael (Shovavim 1), explains that this means that in Shovavim, even those who sinned so much that they are called אחר and חוץ, and they are outside the realm of kedushah, they can do teshuvah, and their teshuvah will be accepted. Even if they transgressed the aveiros that Chazal say Yom Kippur doesn't atone for, they can receive atonement during Shovavim. In particular, he writes, these days atone for aveiros related to speech and kedushah.
Toldos Aharon of Zitomer zt'l teaches that the days of Shovavim are like Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. The tefillos said during these days are answered, as they are answered during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah.
Yismach Yisrael zt'l (5-6) teaches that the concept of Shovavim is hinted at in this week's parashah in the words (1:10) מִן וְעָלָה הָאָרֶץ , "ascend from the earth." This hints that even if a person is steeped in the אָרֶץ, the gashmiyos of this world, he can elevate himself during this time period.
It states (1:11) לְפ ַרְעֹה מִס ְכְּנוֹת עָרֵי וַיִּבֶן. The Noam Elimelech explains these words מוסר בדרך, in a path of mussar. He brings proof that מִס ְכְּנוֹת can be translated as pleasure. When a person is הנאות בעל, immersed in the pleasures of this world, לְפ ַרְעֹה מִס ְכְּנוֹת עָרֵי וַיִּבֶן he is building buildings for the yetzer hara. [This means that he is strengthening the power of the yetzer hara.] Whereas, when one holds back from pleasures, he can reach very high levels. The Noam Elimelech says that this is the meaning of the words in the next pasuk (1:12) יִפ ְרֹץ וְכֵן יִרְבֶּה כֵּן אֹתוֹ יְע ַנּוּ ֶׁרוְכַאֲש, "as much as they would afflict them, so did they multiply and so did they gain strength." This means that when there is יְע ַנּוּ, afflictions, which means he refrains from taking the pleasures of this world, it will result in a lot of kedushah, as implied in the words וְכֵן יִרְבֶּה כֵּן יִפ ְרֹץ . The kedushah will spread to him and to all worlds.
Tzaddikim tell us that in our generation, the afflictions can also be minor, and this will also be sufficient. For example, the Raavad teaches that when a person is enjoying a meal, and he stops in the middle, it is considered to be a fast. (It is called Taanis HaRaavad). The Kotzker zt'l said that following the halachos of the Torah is the greatest affliction of all because the Torah tells the person what he can do, where he can look, and so on. Accepting the yoke of heaven is yesurim. Learning more than a person is accustomed to is also yesurim. (It is yesurim, in the beginning. Afterwards, when he becomes accustomed to studying a lot of Torah, it becomes his greatest joy.)
Eating patiently, and not quickly, is also a form of siguf. As we wrote, tzaddikim say that in our generation, we shouldn't fast anymore (other than the fasts that we are obligated to fast), and one shouldn't take on difficult afflictions. But with mild afflictions, holding back a drop from the pleasures of this world, this will purify him during Shovavim.