Hello kvod harav, if I don't have any money and if I sell my clothes I will have enough to buy candles just for shabbat do I need to sell my clothes? A source will be greatly appreciated!
john, Brooklyn, USA
See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 263:2-3, and the Mishnah Berurah there (263:9).
One who has no funds must request charity money in order to light Shabbos candles, but one candle suffices, and that is also only after his food needs (enough bread for Shabbos) have been met.
In the Bi'ur Halachah (DH Al ha'Pesachim), the Mishnah Berurah in the name of the Pri Megadim adds that just as in the case of the Mitzvah of Chanukah candles, where the obligation to ask for charity includes the option of selling one's clothes, here also one must get money to buy the Shabbos candle by asking for charity or selling his clothes.
All the best,
Reuven Weiner