 A "shabbos goy" is a non-Jew who performs certain activities which Jewish religious law ("halakha") prohibits a Jew from doing on the Sabbath.There are numerous restrictions and certain types of work are prohibited, such as contractor work.The rabbis ruled that asking a non-Jew to violate Shabbat for oneself is generally forbidden, but under certain circumstances the rabbis allowed it, especially to heat the oven on winter days in northern countries.