Commento su Numeri 3:16

על פי ה׳ [AND MOSES NUMBERED THEM] ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD — Moses said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “How can I enter their tents to ascertain the number of their babes?!” Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, replied to him, “You do your share and I will do Mine!’ Moses accordingly went and stationed himself at the entrance of each tent, the Shechinah having gone there beforehand, and a divine voice issued from the tent, saying, “So-and-so many babes are in this tent”. It is on this account that it states, “[and Moses numbered them] according to the word (by the mouth) of the Lord” (Numbers Rabbah 3 9).

How can I enter. (Gur Aryeh) This raises a difficulty: Was it due to the effort involved that he did not wish to enter their tents? In other words, was that [the reason why] they were counted according to the word of Hashem? It appears that the explanation is that because it is dishonorable for a scholar to enter a tent where there are women, therefore he said “How can I enter into their tents…?”