Most of the hours of the day he devoted to his holy work. He delivered several lectures to the students in his yeshiva per day. But in addition to this he was aware of everything that was going on in his community, Dvart. He served as the address for every bitter soul and every trouble that afflicted the people of the city or its environs, and never stinted in any effort to assist anyone who asked for help. He saw himself as responsible for the well being and health of all the poor and suffering, the widows and orphans in his community and the surrounding area. He never ceased in his devotion to the downtrodden.
Before the last world war ended the position of the rabbinate in Ostrow Mazowiecka became vacant. The rabbi of the community, Rabbi Yosef Kalish of Amshinov, was chosen as the Chassidic rebbe and chief of the rabbinical court of Amshinov in place of his father, the Chassidic rebbe Rabbi Menachem, who had just died. The people of the community of Ostrow Mazowiecka chose the Gaon Rabbi Meir Dan as their rabbi and teacher. As usual, Rabbi Meir Dan took no final step until he had consulted with his teacher and rabbi, the Chassidic rebbe Rabbi Avraham Mordechai of Ger. When the rabbi came to ask his question, the rebbe replied, “For a few years, why not?”
Rabbi Meir Dan no longer hesitated. He left Dvart and went to Ostrow Mazowiecka, where his reputation was as a great gaon, a prince of the Torah, a devoted rabbi and courageous fighter, one of the greatest rabbis of his generation, and a paver of the paths to Torah Judaism. In Ostrow Mazowiecka, as in Dvart, he immediately took the lead in all communal activities. He stood at the gates as a father and patron, responsible for everything that occurred within. He did not flinch before anyone, nor did he put up with anyone. He saw in the rabbinate a holy mission whose responsibilities must be fulfilled with devotion.
As the situation in Poland calmed down, the question of the organization of traditional Judaism once again rose to the fore. Rabbi Meir Dan was co–opted to this service, and was appointed as one of the leaders of Agudas Yisrael. The founders of this new movement were faced with a difficult problem, that of establishing a budget for the organization's activities. Without adequate financial resources it was clear that it would be impossible to establish a mass movement, with centers, hundreds of branches, and thousands of educational and other institutions.
Therefore it was by decided by the organizers of the Organization of the Faithful of Israel (a/k/a Agudat Yisrael) to send a high level delegation to England and the United States to encourage orthodox Jews to organize and offer their full support to the new movement. Chosen as head of the delegation was Rabbi Meir Dan Plotzky. Its members consisted of the Gaon Rabbi Asher Lemel Spitzer, chief of the rabbinical court of Kirchendorf [Kirchdorf], Rabbi Dr. Meir Hildesheimer of Berlin, Germany, Dr. Nathan Birnbaum, Rabbi Yosef Lev, who later served as rabbi in London, and Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levin, may he live and be well, who headed the delegation only in England.
Rabbi Meir Dan was everywhere received royally. Rabbis and those knowledgeable about the Torah trembled before this great gaon, who was rightfully thought of as a prince of the Torah and a pillar of education. But the delegation did not succeed in raising the needed sums. Rabbi Meir Dan, who had a kind and gentle soul, did not succeed, as he was not adept at the games of honorifics by which fundraising was accomplished in America in those days. He did know how to flatter people, especially the nouveau riche, who were ignorant of Torah, did not have the fear of Heaven, and did not have the same charitable impulses to which Rabbi Meir Dan was accustomed.
Rabbi Meir Dan then returned to Poland. But a great shock now befell the state that had just attained its new political independence, after more than a hundred years of subjugation to Russia, Germany and Austria. The Bolshevik Red Army invaded Poland and attempted to conquer her anew. The Polish Army quickly retreated westward. In a relatively short time the soldiers of communist Russia had arrived at the gates of Warsaw.
He published his sefer, Klei Chemdah, on the Torah, which quickly captured the hearts of the Torah community in Poland and beyond. Major endorsements were given to this book by leading contemporary Torah scholars. Among them were the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Rosen, the Gaon Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Engel and others. The book was quickly sold out and made the name of its author famous as one of the sharpest geonim [pl.of gaon]. He also published the second volume of his sefer, Chemdas Yisrael, which included rabbinic responsa, lectures and moral discourses that Rabbi Meir Dan had delivered since he was appointed as rabbi and chief of the rabbinical court. These were only a few of the thousands of responses that the rabbi had sent to communities near and far, to hundreds of rabbis and dayanim [pl. of dayan] who had turned to him with all manner of serous issues and complicated questions. He responded quickly, precisely and clearly to every inquirer. He did not avoid deciding difficult matters of Jewish law, although he occasionally surrounded his replies with other topics, meandering through the Talmud and the early and later decisors in the course of clarifying the law.
At its first convention in 5682 [1921–1922], at which hundreds of rabbis took part, Rabbi Meir Dan was elected as chairman of the executive committee of the Association of Rabbis of Poland. He functioned in this framework principally in matters revolving around issues of Halacha. He refused to get involved in any activity that involved improving the economic status of rabbis. He left this matter to other rabbis.
