We’re in the midst of the weekly passages from Isaiah known as the Haftarot of Comfort or Consolation, and this week’s installment opens with a paradox:  

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;     break forth into singing and cry aloud,     you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more     than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.

But how can a barren woman come to rejoice?