Daniel Zion

Daniel Solomon Zion (; 3 August 1883, Salonica – 13 November 1979, Jaffa) was an Orthodox rabbi, Kabbalist and political activist. Zion moved to Sofia, Bulgaria, as a shochet (ritual butcher) and cantor. Bulgaria's Jewish community at the time was almost completely assimilated, and there were no ultra-Orthodox communities in the country during World War II. In 1950, after emigrating to Israel, Zion was removed from his position on the local rabbinical court for his newfound belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish Messiah.

The Holocaust in Bulgaria and subsequent life in Israel In May 1943, alongside Chief Rabbi Dr. Asher Hananel (1895–1964), Zion helped prevent the deportation of nearly 50,000 Jews from Sofia. They did so by appealing to the Metropolitan Bishop of Sofia, Metropolitan Stefan, then head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Sofia. Bishop Stefan then appealed to Tsar Boris III.

On 24 May 1943, Rabbi Zion addressed a gathering at a synagogue, then participated in a mass street demonstration against the anti-Jewish Law for protection of the nation. This law was in effect between 23 January 1941 to 27 November 1944. Two days after the demonstration, Zion was arrested among many others. Having previously enjoyed refuge under the protection of Bishop Stefan, he was transported to a concentration camp for Jews at Somovit, on the bank of the Danube.

Later life and death Despite being removed from the rabbinical court, Zion continued to serve as a rabbi for Bulgarian Jews until 1973. He died in Jaffa in 1979.

Works Iz Nov Put,(Sofia, 1941) Pet godini pod fashistki gnet, (Memoir: Five Years Under Fascist Oppression), (Sofia, 1945) Troiniya put na Noviya Chovek, (Sofia, 1946) Seder ha-Tephilot: Tephilat Daniel(Sofia, 1946)