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MILWAUKEE, — Rabbi Isaac Lerer used to call an elderly member of his congregation regularly to check in on him.

Sam, a widower who only attended High Holy Day services at Temple Menorah here, was "a sweet man, a humble man," Lerer said.

But a few years ago, Lerer suspected that something was amiss. Sam's son or daughter-in-law would tell the rabbi that "Sam is sleeping" or "Sam's out." Somehow, Sam (not his real name) was never available when the rabbi called.

Then, the rabbi received a call from a Milwaukee social worker, who informed him that she suspected Sam was being abused.

Lerer arranged to meet the social worker at Sam's house, which he shared with his daughter-in-law and grandson. The son had, by this time, abandoned the family. Lerer, accompanied by the police, broke into the house, which was filthy and filled with junk.

Sam was locked in a room on the first floor without any toilet facilities.

"How are you, Sam?" asked the rabbi.

"Everything's OK, rabbi," Sam replied. But it wasn't.

"He was wet from head to toe," said the rabbi. Later, they discovered bruises on his body.

When confronted, the daughter-in-law denied any wrongdoing, though it turned out she was forcing Sam to sign over his pension and Social Security checks to her. She had already used up his savings.

"How could you let this happen to your grandfather?" Lerer demanded from the grandson. He received a shrug in response. Sam's son was nowhere to be found.

Lerer took charge. He called an ambulance, and had Sam admitted to the Jewish Home and Care Center.

Lerer became Sam's legal guardian and saw that his income went to keeping him comfortable at the home, where he stayed until his death last year.

It is a shocking story, and, Lerer insists, an unusual one in the Jewish community. Or is it?

According to Judy Strauss, director of clinical and case management services for Jewish Family Services in Milwaukee, elderly abuse occurs in the same proportion in the Jewish community as in the general community. Strauss has seen other "Sams" in her career, some in more affluent settings.

Elder abuse, she added, is even more underreported than spousal abuse in both the general and Jewish communities.

In an interview, Strauss pointed out that elder abuse takes many forms, and they are not necessarily violent. Controlling an elderly person's finances, isolating him or her from friends and relatives, and controlling medication and care are all forms of "subtle" abuse, said Strauss. "It's not always the battering victims who end up in the emergency room."

And the abuse can come from a spouse, caretaker, child or grandchild.

Carol Seaver, chairwoman of the Task Force on Older Battered Women for the Milwaukee Women's Center, estimated that two-thirds of the women she sees are abused by their spouse or partner and another third by their adult children.

"We take every report very seriously" because this population is more vulnerable and not able to help themselves, Strauss said. Jewish Family Services is also able to intervene more quickly in a case of elderly abuse, for the same reason.

Milwaukee County's Department on Aging initiated its Elder Watch Program this year to encourage precisely this type of reporting. Until January, cases of elder abuse were handled by an outside agency for the county. Now the department has an Elder Abuse Unit that oversees the program, handles reports directly and takes appropriate action.

However, because the unit is less than a year old, there are no statistics available on how many cases are reported annually.

"We have neighbors, pharmacies and grocery stores keep an eye out for elderly people who have deteriorated," said Laura Tice, outreach coordinator for Elder Watch. "Sometimes the mailman is the only one to see elderly people. We get more and more of that."

Tice said that if an elderly person who has always dressed neatly, suddenly looks slovenly, that's a reason to call. Or if the elderly person's house suddenly looks neglected. Banks call, she said, if someone who has always paid bills on time starts sending late payments or skipping payments.

Since Tice began public speaking, she said, the department has seen an increase in elder abuse calls.

Elder abuse "crosses all social economic and racial boundaries," she said. "It's all over the city,"