Reply To: Does anyone have a source for this?

Daas Yochid:

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.

Nothing mystical.

My response:

This is your own Peshat/obfuscation. It is quite clear he did not mean this at all – for if he had, why bother to mention the different cities? Just say: If an observant Jew in Vilna does Averah x, a less observant Jew in Vilna (i.e. who can see the other fellow and ‘take their cue from him’) does Averah Y.