He was saying that the non-frum take their cues from us about what we treat as really important, and then they do only that.
So if a jew in vilna is mezalzel shabbos but still doesn’t do melacha, then the jew in paris does melacha.
Nothing mystical.
Sure, it’s mystical. It’s based on the yesod that what we do here influences the upper spheres, which then influences the lower spheres, which is why there is no geographical limitation.
What you’re saying is true, but if was limited to that, the example would not have been Vilna/Paris.