You may tell a non-Jew to do melacha for Oneg Shabbat. 

Three Shabbat Meals
We are required to eat three Shabbat meals, as a rabbinic (d'rabanan) enactment to enjoy Shabbat (oneg Shabbat). The first Shabbat meal must be at night and the remaining two must be during the day (the third meal must be eaten after halachic midday). Friday night dinner and the first meal on Saturday are preceded by kiddush. For the first two Shabbat meals, say ha'motzi over two complete loaves of bread, each of which is at least 1.3 fl. oz. in volume. For the third meal, the ideal is to use two complete loaves of bread, but the requirement of eating the third meal can also be fulfilled by eating any food other than salt or water.

Source of Saying Shabbat Kiddush

• Saying kiddush on Shabbat night is a commandment from the Torah (d'oraita).
• Saying kiddush on Saturday morning is a rabbinical (d'rabanan) enactment.

Note If you did not say Friday night kiddush, you must say that version of kiddush on Shabbat morning and it is then a requirement from the Torah (d'oraita). Do not begin with va'yechulu; instead, begin with borei pri ha'gafen and say the second blessing of kiddush.

Source of Kiddush Location
Saying kiddush at the place where you will eat your meal is a rabbinical (d'rabanan) enactment.

Shabbat Kiddush-Meal Quantities: Evening

• For evening kiddush, a minimum of 4 fl. oz. (119 ml) of wine must be blessed on and at least half must be drunk.
• For the evening meal, as on Shabbat lunch and all required Jewish festival meals, a minimum of 1.9 fl. oz. of bread must be eaten within four minutes.

Shabbat Kiddush-Meal Quantities: First Meal on Saturday
Shabbat day first meal has two separate eating requirements.  They may be combined (say/hear kiddush and start the main meal right away) but are often done separately (say/hear kiddush and then eat some mezonot; the main meal is eaten later in the day).
Note Since eating and drinking requirements on all morning kiddushes (both Shabbat and Jewish festivals) are d'rabanan, the required beverage amount for morning kiddush is only 3.3 fl. oz. (99 ml) instead of the d'oraita 4 fl. oz. (119 ml), which is required for kiddushes for Shabbat evening.
1) Morning kiddush requires a halachically legal “meal” with these elements:
      a) Blessing on a minimum of 3.3 fl. oz. (99 ml) of wine (or other beverage),
      b) Someone's drinking at least 2 fl. oz. of the beverage, followed by
      c) Eating at least 1.3 fl. oz. (39 ml, or 1/6 cup) of some type of mezonot (or bread) within four minutes.
Note If you drink at least 3.3 fl. oz. (99 ml) of wine within 30 seconds, you do not need to eat mezonot.
Note You do not need to drink the wine or other kiddush beverage to fulfill “establishing a meal.” You may hear kiddush and then simply eat the required amount of bread or mezonot. This applies to Shabbat or Jewish festivals, evening or morning.
The kiddush “meal” does not have to satiate.
Note If you have not fulfilled the requirements for kiddush, you may not eat other foods, such as fruit or fish at a kiddush.

2) The real meal (kovei'a se'uda) of Shabbat lunch requires eating at least 1.9 fl. oz. (56 ml) of bread (or matza during Passover!) within four minutes. It should include enough food to satiate.
Note You can simultaneously fulfill the requirement to “establish a meal” and to “eat a meal” by eating one (the same) piece of bread.
For details on fulfilling the first two meals' requirements, see Shabbat: Kiddush.

Shabbat: Eating a Meal Requirement: Third Meal
For details on fulfilling the third meal's requirements, see Shabbat: Third Meal (Se'uda Shlishit).

You may not ask a non-Jew to turn ON a light or turn ON heat, or other d'oraita violations of Shabbat--even for a mitzva or for oneg Shabbat. However, you may ask a non-Jew to do a melacha d'oraita for any of a sick person's needs, even if there is no danger to the person's life.

Shabbat was the goal of Creation. Just as God completed the world's creation on the sixth day and ceased His work on the seventh, so Jews are supposed to imitate God and not do any creative work on the seventh day. Everything we need for living through Shabbat must be prepared ahead so that we do not do any creative activities on Shabbat.
Our observance of Shabbat thus testifies that God created the world. In the Shabbat kiddush, we mention the Exodus from Egypt, too, to testify to the world that God is continuously involved in our lives.
By ceasing our normal efforts to dominate the physical world, we can appreciate the spiritual aspects of our existence.
On Shabbat, all observant (shomer Shabbat) Jews receive an extra “soul.”

Zachor and Shamor

Remember (Zachor) the Sabbath day to make it holy—Exodus/Shmot 20:8
Observe (Shamor) the Sabbath day to make it holy—Deuteronomy/Devarim 5:12
Shabbat has two dimensions:

• Zachor  “Remember,” encompassing positive (“to do”) commandments, and
• Shamor  “Observe,” encompassing negative (“refrain from”) commandments.

Zachor:  Positive Shabbat Commandments
What Are Positive Shabbat Commandments
Positive Shabbat commandments include:

• Lighting candles,
• Making kiddush evening and morning,
• Making havdala,
• Honoring Shabbat (Kivod Shabbat), and
• Enjoying Shabbat (Oneg Shabbat), including eating three meals on Shabbat.

Honoring Shabbat: Special Food and Clothes
Honoring Shabbat includes eating tasty food and wearing nice clothes.

Shamor: Negative Shabbat Commandments
Shabbat Laws from the Torah (Shabbat D'Oraita)
What Are Melachot
On the Jewish day of rest, we refrain from 39 creative activities (melachot) that had been used to build the Tabernacle in the wilderness. These 39 melachot, prohibited by the Torah, are listed in the mishna of Shabbat and in later halacha books.

The word melacha is frequently mistranslated as “work,” but work has nothing to do with the Jewish concept of melacha. Some melachot are physically strenuous (plowing, grinding wheat, skinning an animal) and some are easy to do (drawing, baking). The defining point is whether the activity is one of the 39 creative, value-adding labors. Emptying your pockets before leaving an eruv (so you are not “carrying”) may seem confusing to someone who thinks that resting on Shabbat means refraining only from hard physical labor!

What Are Toldot
Toldot are variations of the 39 melachot. These types of melacha are also prohibited by the Torah.

Intention and Other Considerations
Most Torah (d'oraita) prohibitions of melacha on Shabbat are for cases in which you:
            1) Intend a permanent change.
                Often, actions that may be forbidden when they cause permanent change, will
                be permissible by Torah law if the result is only temporary. Or
            2) Intend or act for a specific purpose.
                Random or unintended actions are generally not prohibited by Torah law.
                (However, actions that are not prohibited by the Torah, may be prohibited
                by Chazal.)

Whether you may benefit from a melacha done on Shabbat depends on intention:

• A Jew who intentionally does a melacha on Shabbat may never benefit from that melacha.

            Note Any other Jew may benefit from that melacha as soon as Shabbat is over.

• A Jew who does melacha on Shabbat by mistake (shogeg) may benefit from that melacha immediately after Shabbat ends.

In order to violate a prohibited melacha d'oraita, the melacha must be done as follows. If any of these do not apply, then the melacha is forbidden d'rabanan but not d'oraita:

• K'darko--The action must be done in a normal way.
• Tzorech tikun—The action must be done for a constructive purpose.
• Tzricha l'gufa--You must need the normal result of that action.
• Asiya b'yachid—The action must be done by one individual (if commonly done by just one person).
• Mit'aseik--You must realize that you are doing a melacha.

 
Shabbat Laws from Chazal (Shabbat D'Rabanan)
Chazal instituted additional restrictions, such as:

• Activities that might lead directly to violating a Torah prohibition.
• Use of items not designated for Shabbat use (muktza). For a good explanation of muktza from the TorahTots website, please click here.
• Activities that might lead one to think that a prohibited activity is permissible (mar'it ayin--the appearance of the eye).
• Activities that are not appropriate for Shabbat, even though they are technically permissible according to the Torah (“uvda d'chol”).
• Tircha--Exerting a physical effort to accomplish a result that is not required for Shabbat.

Enjoying Shabbat/Oneg Shabbat
Chazal instituted laws to engender a positive Shabbat atmosphere and experience.  Beyond the actual halachot of shamor and zachor, we have a concept of enjoying Shabbat (oneg Shabbat)—of enhancing our experience of Shabbat by doing whatever each person finds to be enjoyable and relaxing--as long as it is neither destructive nor violates the laws of Shabbat. The criteria are subjective. To fulfill the idea of honoring Shabbat, do things you would not do just for yourself if it were not Shabbat. Take essential life activities such as eating and sleeping and do them more and better and make them especially enjoyable.

Meals as Oneg
On Shabbat, we eat better foods and more types of food than we would normally do on weekdays.
The main idea behind meals for Shabbat is enjoyment (oneg; by contrast, the main idea for Jewish festivals is joy--simcha), so on Shabbat you should eat bread and either fish, poultry, or meat (but only if you enjoy them).
In order to have a special appetite for our Shabbat evening meal, we don't eat a full meal with bread on Friday afternoon.

Special Shabbat Songs (Zmirot)
Special songs (zmirot) are sung at the various Shabbat meals. Some zmirot have an aspect of prayer to them.

Studying Torah
Studying Torah on Shabbat is another way of increasing our spiritual experience. It honors the Shabbat and should bring about enjoyment of Shabbat.

Shabbat and Muktza
For information on Shabbat and muktza, see section below, Shabbat: Muktza.

Weekday Talk
Don't talk about subjects that are forbidden to do on Shabbat (weekday subjects); for example, don't talk about what you will do after Shabbat is over. There is no prohibition about discussing actions from the past as long as no planning is discussed.

Jewish Festivals are listed in the Torah and are of two types: 

1. Three pilgrimage festivals (shalosh regalim):

• Passover,
• Shavuot, and
• Sukkot (including Shimini Atzeret).

These festivals were celebrated in ancient times by "appearing before God"--by bringing offerings to the Tabernacle or Temple.

2. High Holidays: 

• The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana—“Yom Teru'a” in the Torah), and the
• Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

 
Duration
Jewish holidays that were originally one day are now observed as follows:

• Rosh Hashana--2 days.
• Yom Kippur--1 day.
• Shavuot--1 day in Eretz Yisrael or 2 days elsewhere.
• Passover has festival days at the beginning and end of the holiday and intermediary days of lesser holiness, which are called chol ha'moed. In Eretz Yisrael, Passover lasts for 7 days in total and the first and last days are festival days. Outside of Eretz Yisrael, Passover lasts 8 days and has two festival days at the beginning and two at the end.
• Sukkot has festival days at the beginning and at the end and intermediary days of lesser holiness, which are called chol ha'moed. In Eretz Yisrael, Sukkot lasts for 8 days and the first and last days are festival days (the last day is Shimini Atzeret). Outside of Eretz Yisrael, Sukkot lasts for 9 days and the first two days and last days are festival days (the 8th day is Shimini Atzeret and the 9th day is Simchat Torah).

Character
Each holiday contributes its own character to Jewish life (Passover--the theme of freedom; Yom Kippur brings atonement, etc.). 

Celebrating
How to celebrate these holidays is detailed in our Oral Law and halacha books. Jewish festivals as practiced today are similar in holiness to Shabbat. As with Shabbat, the Jewish festival has candle lighting, kiddush at two meals, and havdala.   We eat our best food and wear our best clothing on Jewish festivals (we eat our next-best food and wear our next-best clothing on Shabbat!).
The main idea behind eating meals on Jewish festivals is joy (simcha), so you should drink wine and eat meat (only if you enjoy wine and meat).  There is no third meal on Jewish festivals since people used to eat two meals each day (adding a third meal on Shabbat was for enjoyment/oneg).
 
Melachot
Any activities or actions permitted on Shabbat are also permitted on the Jewish festivals. Actions that are forbidden on Shabbat are generally also forbidden on Jewish festivals, but there are some leniencies (only if the actions are needed for that festival day).
Examples

• Lighting from an existing flame,
• Cooking and baking for the Jewish festival day, and
• Carrying outside the eruv (hotza'a--transferring objects between domains).

 
Grama
Grama (indirectly causing an action) is permitted on Jewish festivals (but not on Shabbat). For example, you may advance or delay a timer that will make a light go on or off in the future (the timer must already be plugged in and operating from before sunset of the festival day).
Note For an action to be considered indirect based on time, there must be at least 2.5 seconds after the first action is done before the resulting action begins to happen.

Psik Reisha Dla Neicha Lei
Psik reisha dla neicha lei is forbidden on Jewish festivals, just as it is on Shabbat.

D'oraita Restrictions
D'oraita restrictions apply world-wide to:

• First and seventh days of Passover,
• First and eighth days of Sukkot,
• First day of Shavuot,
• Yom Kippur,
• First day of Rosh Hashana.

Note The same restrictions apply to all other Jewish festival days but are rabbinical.
 
Women
In general, women are not required to perform the positive, time-dependent commandments. Women and girls are not required to eat any Jewish festival meals except the Passover seder meal (but they are not allowed to fast on those days).

An onen who accompanies a body to a foreign country for burial may have two extra days (or more) of onenut. If the onen then returns home and joins other mourners in the shiv'a house, the onen may end shiv'a with the other family members. (For more details, see When Shiv'a (and Shloshim) Starts: Normal Days .)

An onen is prohibited from doing positive mitzvot so as not to be distracted from taking care of the dead body.
An onen may not:

• Do any positive commandment (no blessings, prayers, shema…).
• Eat meat or drink wine (until after the burial).
• Work or operate a business.

A person who receives charity should still give a minimal amount to charity. Doing so gives him or her the benefit of the mitzva of giving charity and serves as an example to his or her children (who should be made aware that the parents are giving money to charity).

Your fore-blessing covers all other same-category foods that you will eat at the same time (same sitting), if:

1. They are in front of you when you say the blessing, OR
2. You intend your blessing to cover all other same-category foods that you own and will eat at the same sitting--even if they are not in front of you when you make the blessing.
   Note You do not need to state your intention out loud, just think it.  If you usually have this intention but you forgot on an occasion, you do not need to say new blessings on the subsequent foods of that type that you already own.

• You say she'hakol over two kinds of she'hakol foods on your table.  The blessing also covers a third she'hakol food in your refrigerator and a fourth in your pantry that you know you own.
• You say she'hakol and are eating an omelette when a visitor brings you a gift of chocolates: you must say a new she'hakol]blessing before eating the chocolates.
  Note Anytime your spouse is serving you food, it is assumed that your initial fore-blessings will cover all food that you will eat.

• Guest at Someone's Home
  Whenever you are a guest at someone else's house, it is assumed that whatever foods you will eat, will be covered by your initial fore-blessing as long as they are in the same category.
• Attendee at Kiddush or Wedding
  If you say she'hakol over fish at a kiddush or wedding, the blessing covers all she'hakol foods in the room.
• Diner in Restaurant
  If you have made an order in a restaurant, all ordered foods will be covered by your first fore-blessing(s). However, if you later order more food, even if the fore-blessings are the same, you must still say a new fore-blessing.

Some communities have the custom of an onen's saying kaddish.
NOTE When a person's parent dies on or just before (erev) Shabbat or a Jewish festival, a daughter of any age should not be told until after Shabbat or the festival is over. A son should only be told if he is 6 years old and above and the custom in that community is to say kaddish as an onen.

Shabbat candles should be lit only by one person per home. Priority order: wife; then husband; then children. Girls should not be encouraged to light Shabbat candles except when no parent can.

You only need one service (shamash) candle for any amount of Chanuka candles/oil lamps (menorot) in the same area.

The basic commandment is for one Chanuka candle to be lit per house per night. The extra candles (matching the number of days in Chanuka) and having every male light his own menora is an enhancement and a custom.

If you are living in Eretz Yisrael for one year and might stay longer, ask a rabbi if you must keep one or two days of the Jewish festival.