The Gaon Rabbi Meir Dan was active and involved in the organization of the Agudas Yisrael movement in Poland. Its firm establishment was important to him, and he did much on its behalf. The rabbi saw Agudas Yisrael, then known as The Organization of the Faithful of Israel, as very serious force for the strengthening of the ramparts of religion, for saving future generations for Judaism, for the prevention of the domination of anti–religious movements in the Jewish community, and for the rule of Torah in the life of the nation. Therefore he sharply opposed and totally rejected the wish of certain rabbis to appear politically unaffiliated. “At a time when full loyalty to the Torah has become a political party matter, how can a rabbi who fulfills his Torah mission see himself as unaffiliated? What rabbi can remain indifferent to the question of whether the Torah is that which determines all the ways and means of the life of the nation, or whether other factors, national or class ones, do?” he asked.
Even within the orthodox Agudas Yisrael movement Rabbi Meir Dan had his own distinct ideas and approach. A fundamental debate was then being undertaken in the new movement on the following question: who has the right to join Agudas Yisrael? The debate originated in Germany, Slovakia and Hungary, where separate orthodox communities existed [independent of the general Jewish community]. There were those who argued that only members of such separate communities could join Agudas Yisrael, since following the rulings of the giants of the Torah of the previous generation separate orthodox communities had been established. This would oblige every orthodox Jew to join these separate entities. There were even those who forbade joining the general communities, which included the non–religious and even the anti–religious, and whose provisions did not comply at all with the explicit Halacha. As opposed to them there were those who argued that it would be inappropriate to limit the world organization to the framework of the separate communities, and that it was incumbent upon Agudas Yisrael to include all Jews who observed the word of God, and not to prevent any Jew who indentified with its principles to join. Rabbi Meir Dan joined in this debate. As soon as he returned from the Agudas Yisrael mission to England and the United States he ceaselessly demanded that the gates of Agudas Yisrael should be opened to the maximum extent in order to attract the masses to its ranks. Everything should be done so that the masses would join the movement in every locale, without being overly concerned with the minutiae of their observance. The very fact of their joining and being active within the framework of Agudas Yisrael under the authority of the leaders of the Torah would bring about a turning point in their lives and in all their actions. He voiced this opinion on every occasion, whether in the conferences of Agudas Yisrael or in the meetings of the Moetzet G'dolei Hatorah [The Council of Torah Greats], to which body he was elected on the very day of its founding.
Alongside the establishment of Agudas Yisrael in Poland was also founded the Tz'irei Agudat Yisrael [Young Agudat Yisrael]. Clubs were set up for young orthodox [men], along with libraries for its members and other religious youth. Many of the leading Chassidic rebbes and other rabbis in Poland were strongly opposed to the very idea of setting up of religious libraries. A religious youth should study Torah. So, too, should the working youth devote every free hour to Torah and its works, and not waste time reading books of literature, meaningless stories, which may contain poison dangerous to the soul.
But the young orthodox activists, who worked to establish clubs and libraries for the religious working youth, found a champion in Rabbi Meir Dan Plotzky, who saw this as an imperative of the times. “The libraries for youth will prevent the reading of forbidden and dangerous books that corrupt the soul, and do not, Heaven forefend, prevent the study of the Torah,” he ruled.
When in 5682 [1922] the national convention of Agudas Yisrael in Poland convened in Warsaw, Rabbi Meir Dan delivered an enthusiastic and fiery speech. He demanded of the
